Another reason to thank Marie the Gardenbug: she introduced me to this cool plant, known only to me by name before. It’s an exotic hybrid cousin of our native may-apple called Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’. For info on this dramatic family of plants, see this from the Pacific Horticulture Society.

Marie grows it in part shade in a wet, wet area of her garden – in fact, her river swamps it every spring. So, given my dry shade garden, this baby is off-limits to me, except in my most fantastical dreams. But what a beauty, eh? Hardy to USDA Z6, but you might succeed, as Marie does, in a colder zone with reliable snow cover – the overflowing stream is optional.

Hidden beneath the foliage are these attractive flowers. The pale blobs are the “apples” beginning to form.