I bought this plant about 5 years ago from a BC nursery, perhaps even from the UBC Shop in the Garden! However, I seem to have lost the tag and any record of its name. It's planted at the back of my shady woodland area. Each year it sends up some nice big leaves, but this year it produced these wonderful flowers/seeds. (Removal of the lower branches of the Douglas Firs last Fall has let more light in, perhaps bringing on the flowers.) It is currently about 1.5 M tall, almost twice that if you stretched out the bent flower plume. The stem is black, and it dies down completely in winter.
It is Aralia cordata - Googled photos match, and this name was in my plant inventory, having been ordered in 2000. But I did not record where it was planted. (I have a very large garden, and my record keeping does not always keep up with my purchases!) Many thanks, Kathy
