Sanguisorba obtusa

Sanguisorba obtusa is a Japanese burnet, as pleasing to the eye as it is to the touch. It is a graceful perennial plant with pinnate, cut, silver-blue green foliage, which displays a fluffy flowering in the shape of soft pink spikes from the month of July, lasting for a long period. Very hardy, it appreciates fresh and light soils, without limestone, and a sunny to semi-shaded exposure.

Sanguisorba obtusa is a rhizomatous perennial belonging to the vast Rosaceae family. It is native to Japan, where it naturally grows in open spaces, on the edge of undergrowth on fresh and slightly acidic soil. It is an herbaceous and rhizomatous perennial plant, growing in clumps, reaching a height of 50 cm (20in) and a diameter of 40 cm (16in). Flowers are formed by four-petaled pink flowers, grouped in 3 to 7 cm (1 to 3in) long spikes, gracefully arched. Flowering takes place from July to September. Only the lower half of the spike has bisexual flowers. The leaves are deciduous, odd-pinnate, alternate, composed of petiolate and dentate leaflets. The foliage colour is a very soft silver-blue green. Its somewhat exotic appearance evokes ferns or a smaller version of Melianthus major.

Clumps: botanical term referring to a rounded and dry clod (30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) in height), resulting from the annual growth of a perennial plant on its old roots and decomposing dead leaves, slowed down by the acidity of the environment.

Japanese burnet is ideal for fresh rock gardens and sunny borders. It also grows well in pots. The flowers can be used in bouquets. Plant them in fresh undergrowth, in groups of 5 or 6 plants, and to create a very natural garden, plant along with bleeding hearts, liverworts, foamflowers, hellebores, female ferns, and musk parsley. Its foliage will be enhanced by spring bulbs that naturalize well, such as multiflora tulips, small-flowered narcissus, or Fritillaria meleagris.

Etymology of Sanguisorba: comes from the Latin word sanguis, which means blood, and sorbere, which means to absorb. The plant is directly related to the hemostatic properties (which stop bleeding) of the roots, which are used in herbal medicine.