Topped by creamy white plumes of minute star-like flowers, fine ultra-chiseled foliage and red-tinged stems shape a tidy dwarf habit that works well as a ground cover around flat stones and rocks. This small gem can also be tucked into the front of the border with broad-leafed Epimediums nearby.

Blooms late May–mid-June

Size: 8" high x 12" wide.

Hardy to zone 5.

This spectacular North American perennial has a lot to toot its horn about: AGM recipient, bold bushy foundation and cut-flower-perfect feather-like plumes. A bee, butterfly and songbird haven, small starry cream-colored blooms populate arching, 12 in. tall, branched pyramidal panicles elegantly rising high above the long tripinnately compound green fronds, which emphasize pleated lanceolate leaflets, pointed tips and twice-serrated margins. Peerless as an easy-care stand-alone in naturalized plantings, Bride′s Feathers′s handsome upright clump shuns bunnies and deer plus appreciates evenly moist, organic-rich soil. Headline under tall trees, along partly shady streams or ponds and woodland peripheries with Asarum caudatum, Dicentra and Iris nearby.

Blooms May–June

Size: 4' 0" – 6' 0" high x 2-1/2' – 4-1/2' wide.

Zone 3b.

While the species is a larger perennial hailing from Missouri, this compact, daintier 1889 version sprouts Japanese Maple-shaped leaves, finely hewn with thread-like segments. Sheer cream-colored plumes of minute starry blooms twinkle above the ultrafine deep green hummock. Ideal for gardens short on space plus fresh or dry arrangements, ‘Kneiffii’ can be massed along streams or ponds and in moist shady borders or woodland gardens.

Blooms June–July

Size: 2-1/2' – 3' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.

Zone 3/4.

A flurry of large lacy white panicles illuminates the handsome feathered foliage and numerous branching stems. Forging a verdant leafy clump that is shorter and sturdier than the species, this German hybrid dispels all images of a stocky work plant. Its name means “child of two worlds,” and it is indeed otherworldly under tall canopies of Styrax or Maples.

Blooms June–July

Size: 2-1/2' high x 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 5.

Bred by famed German plantsman Ernest Pagels, this low-growing floriferous cultivar is a cross between the European species Aruncus dioicus and the dwarf Korean native, Aruncus aethusifolius. Crinkled finely cut pinnate greenery cloaks an attractive compact mound, which once established, propels as many as one hundred 12 to 18 in. tall, arching flower stems, plus manages to maintain a trim appearance throughout the season. Staged in a horizontal fashion, petite creamy-white blooms festoon the copious, closely packed short wands, thought by some to resemble feathers, hence the curious namesake.

Blooms June–July

Size: 18" – 2' 0" high x 18" – 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 5.

Brimming with finery, yet remarkably steadfast, this choice perennial was bred by noted German nurseryman, Ernest Pagels. ‘Horatio’ is a meticulously crafted cross between Aruncus aethusifolius and Aruncus dioicus, praised for its unique sparkling spikes of tiny cream-colored blooms, which splay out in a horizontal fashion from upright bronze-tinted stems. Fresh green fern-like foliage forms a bushy base beneath the airy star-shaped flowers. 

Blooms June–July

Size: 3' 0" – 3-1/2' high x 2-1/2' wide.

Hardy to zone 4.