Culver's root 'Fascination'
Veronicastrum virginicum 'Fascination' · Plantaginaceae
Tall, straight stems with whorls of leaves at regular intervals, topped with branching candelabras of lilac-pink spires.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to late August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Culver's root 'Fascination'
The planner designed this bed around Culver's root 'Fascination' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Culver's root 'Fascination' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Culver's root 'Fascination' × 3, lavender
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 4, blue
- 3 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 13, red
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Giant snowdrop × 12, white
- 7 Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie' × 6, orange
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are open bowls, airy sprays, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only lavender.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 8 weeks. From mid July to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With coral bells 'Firefly' in mid July: 2 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 24 of the 24 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, coral bells 'Firefly' and creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue'. When the flowers are over, three kinds, among them creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' and coral bells 'Firefly', keep the bed from looking bare.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 2 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Culver's root 'Fascination' goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Among the best vertical plants for the back of a border. The flower spikes sometimes flatten and curl at the tip, hence the name. The dark seed heads stand through winter.
- Vertical structure at the back
- Winter seed heads
- Bees and butterflies
What to plant with Culver's root 'Fascination'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway': in flower together for six weeks, from late July; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster': in flower together for eight weeks, from mid July; happy in the same moist soil.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for eight weeks, from mid July; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Culver's root 'Fascination'
Does Culver's root 'Fascination' need sun or shade?
Culver's root 'Fascination' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does Culver's root 'Fascination' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Culver's root 'Fascination' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 5 | Mid July to late August |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to late August |
| Zone 7 | Early July to late August |
| Zone 8 | Early July to late August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Culver's root 'Fascination' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Culver's root 'Fascination' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is Culver's root 'Fascination' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat Culver's root 'Fascination'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after Culver's root 'Fascination'?
Culver's root 'Fascination' is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue sage: from late August to mid October, 4 ft tall.
- Korean feather reed grass: from late August to mid October, 4 ft tall.
What does Culver's root 'Fascination' look like in winter?
Culver's root 'Fascination' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is Culver's root 'Fascination' good for bees and butterflies?
Culver's root 'Fascination' is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and beneficial insects.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Veronicastrum
- Culver's root Veronicastrum virginicum
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to late August; upright spires; lavender, pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Comes from
- North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, beneficial insects
- Stands up to
- Deer, wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.