How to Grow and Care for Aruncus

Aruncus dioicus is commonly known as goat's beard, buck's-beard, or bride's feathers. The Latin name Aruncus dioicus means 'having the male reproductive organs on one plant, and the female on the other.' It has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The forest goat beard is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches stature heights of 80 to 150 centimeters. She has a short, strong, underground rhizome. From this grow upright and up to the inflorescence unbranched stems, which often lignified at the bottom. The up to 1 meter long leaves are two to three times in three parts or five parts.

Goat's beard 'Horatio' is a distinctively large and shrub-like cultivar of Goat's beard, a flowering plant common to many of the world's temperate woodlands. This plant, with its golden-yellow flowers, has become a popular garden plant.

Kamtchatka goats beard 'Dwarf Goat's Beard' is a compact perennial, favored for its finely divided, fern-like foliage and fluffy, cream-colored flower plumes that appear in early summer. This miniature version of the classic Goat's Beard thrives in partial shade and moist conditions, mimicking the cool forest understories it naturally adorns. It's a charming addition to woodland gardens, growing about 12 inches tall, which brings a touch of whimsy to shaded borders and containers.

Named after its defining feature, goat's beard 'Misty Lace' exhibits a profusion of large, feathery stalks of white blooms which give the appearance of lace. The flowers provide a stark contrast when compared to the green of its leaves. Goat's beard 'Misty Lace' is an Aruncus cultivar, produced by combining Aruncus dioicus with Aruncus dioicus var. kamtschaticus.