This perennial dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.

• Position: full sun
• Soil: fertile, deep, moist soil
• Rate of growth: average to fast
• Flowering period: June to August
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  Intense purple-red flowers appear on tall flower spikes from early summer above lance-shaped foliage. This is a spectacularly colourful plant for watersides, pond banks and woodland borders where the soil is reliably moist. It is a clump-forming perennial that attracts butterflies, birds and bees to their nectar.
  
  
• Garden care: It self-seeds freely, so if you want to control its spread remove the flowerspikes as they fade.