Kruckeberg Botanic Garden Plant of the Month: Dead Man’s Fingers

Dead Man's Fingers.

By Sarah Baker, Garden Director

Dead man’s fingers (Decaisnea fargesii) is a quirky plant, as its name suggests. Plant it where you can enjoy its best feature: The shockingly blue, bean-like seedpods that dangle from it each fall. They are edible, but creepy, and with a name like ‘dead man’s fingers,’ very fitting for Halloween.

Decaisnea is grown in gardens for its bold, tropical-looking foliage and decorative fruit. It comes from a family of plants known primarily for its vines, including Akebia and Holboellia. It's tall and lanky to about fifteen feet in height. With a narrow form and foliage clustered at the top, Decaisnea works best when planted amongst other shrubs rather than as a stand-alone specimen. Be sure to plant it where you can appreciate its bizarre seedpods up close.

Decaisnea is found from the Himalayas to western China. All you need to grow it successfully is full sun to part shade, and good loamy soil. The plants are easy to grow in cooler temperate climates and are frost hardy, tolerating temperatures down to 5°F. 

This is a unique, yet easy-to-grow plant that thrives in our Puget Sound gardens.