Winter wolf’s bane is blooming in patches of yellow in the front and back of the house. Winter wolf’s bane is also called winter aconite but that is not nearly so evocative a name. Actually, the full Latin name is Aconitum lycoctonum. Aconite is an alkaline toxin produced when you boil the roots of the plant. This toxin is highly poisonous and difficult to treat. Click here  if you would like to read about two recent cases of ingestion which happened in San Francisco. The second word “lycoctonum” means wolf’s bane. Sometimes the vowel gets shifted and it becomes “wife’s bane.”

I really should plant snowdrops among my spreading wolf’s bane. Or maybe plant a blue flowered bulb for contrast. I could also plant some early purple crocus. That would have the same effect, although purple is one complementary shade off from yellow. These are blooming right now at the same time as the winter wolf’s bane.