Anthricus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'

The Raven 1935
Directed by Lew Landers
Universal Pictures

A week of too much Christmas ham got me thinking about the hammiest actors of all time. The obvious choice in this era would be Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame who "acts" like a ken doll come to life and who appears every bit the stunned mullet when presenting at an awards ceremony. However it is hard to go past the great Bela Lugosi for hammy acting especially in The Raven , a film which provides the tenuous link to the plant of this post.

Feathery black foliage of Anthricus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'
with white striped Iris japonica 'Variegata'

and with Carex elata Bowles' Golden grass

The common name for this plant is black 'cow parsley' and it is really more suited to a shady cool English woodland garden but I am giving it a go in full shade and keeping it well watered. It remains to be seen whether I can get it to flower so I can collect some seed so as to grow more of it. It would look terrific if mass planted beside some pale foliaged plants like the ones above for it could easily disappear in the landscape without something to highlight its seductive dark leaves.