Ligusticum scoticum

Handsome clumps of jagged, burnished, heavy-textured leaves are topped in summer by lacy white flower clusters on 20-inch stems. Native to coastal habitats throughout much of the upper Northern Hemisphere (including Rhode Island), it's an amazingly adaptable and useful thing -- yet it's virtually unavailable.

Full to part sun; average to dry soil (drought tolerant); 18"x12"; early summer; RI native; Zone 3

Propagated from seed; deep 3.5-inch pots

Photo: peganum