Monkshood

Still hanging on in the cold weather.

Monkshood - Plant That Keeps Vampires Away

This greenery is monkshood, which shoots up tall stems with dark purple flowers late in the summer. It's also a poisonous plant, and one of a long history of secret poisonings of enemies, both for real and in literature. In the movie Dracula, it was used to keep vampires away. The plant is also called wolfsbane, aconite and blue rocket.

Monkshood Late Bloomer This Year

I was trying to catch a picture of a bird in the platform feeder, and when that was a missed shot, I noticed the monkshood is blooming - even though the foliage is frost-bitten. This plant shot up tall quickly this year, and although it is a later bloomer in the garden, it usually puts on a show in September. Strange that it didn't flower until October.

Monkshood or Wolfbane

The monkshood is blooming. I have it planted along with delphiniums. They look similar, but bloom at different times. The flower spikes are about 6 feet high.