Sanguisorba obtusa

Sanguisorba obtusa: Nodding Pink Bottlebrushes for Damp Spots

This burnet is tall, pink and fluffy, like a feather boa that wandered off from a cabaret and decided to put down roots. Blue-grey leaves keep it classy between shows. JAZZ HANDS, PLEASE.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Sanguisorba obtusa
• Common Name: Japanese Burnet
• Height: 100–150 cm (3.3–5 ft) in flower
• Spread: 50–100 cm (1.6–3.3 ft)
• Flowers: Bright pink, fluffy, bottlebrush-shaped spikes with long stamens, opening from red buds
• Bloom Time: Summer (June to August)
• Foliage: Pinnate, blue-grey leaves with a soft, waxy look, in a mounded clump
• Features: Showy cut flower, handsome foliage all season

Where to Plant: Japanese burnet loves moisture, so use it beside ponds and streams, at the edge of a woodland garden or in a damp border that gets some sun. It also earns a place in a cut-flower bed.

Companion Plants: Plant Japanese burnet in a moist bed in sun or part shade with white bellflowers, amber heuchera and white foxgloves. Campanula 'Rapido White' edges the front with white bells at 15 to 20 cm from June to September. Heuchera FYRE WING™ 'Amber' adds amber foliage at 28 cm. Digitalis 'Dalmatian White' brings white foxglove spires at 90 to 120 cm in June and July. Carex muskingumensis adds bright green, palm-like whorls at 60 to 90 cm.

Plant Care: Plant it in full sun or part shade, in moist, humus-rich clay or loam that doesn't dry out. Water deeply in dry spells, especially in its first year. In hot, dry sites, afternoon shade keeps the leaves looking fresh. It spreads slowly by rhizomes into a broad clump. Tall stems may lean in rich soil or deep shade, so a neighbour to lean on or a light ring support helps. Japanese beetles sometimes chew the leaves in our region, so hand-pick them in early morning. Cut the plant back in late fall or early spring, and divide crowded clumps in spring.

History: Sanguisorba obtusa is native to Japan and nearby parts of Russia, and belongs to the rose family. Its genus name comes from the Latin for blood and for soaking up, after the old herbal use of related burnets to stop bleeding.

Final Thoughts: Give it room at the back of the border and let it take a bow. Cut stems will steal the dinner party. NOBODY REMEMBERS THE SALAD.