The monkshoods prefer a rich and fertile soil, with reasonable moisture. If too dry, the foliage may shrivel, spoiling the overall effect. Best sited in some dappled shade to help with this and to grow amongst other plants, encourage them to stay upright. Good autumn flowering, with colours ranging from deep purple, to slate grey. Some red forms have now been developed. Common names such as wolf's bane, leopard's bane indicate a use in medicines and for poisons. Caution, toxic if eaten. Wear gloves when working with these plants.
Despite the toxins, the leaves of monkshood are eaten by the caterpillars of some moths: particularly tiger-moths and their relatives. These toxins may then be used to protect the caterpillar and subsequently the adult from predation. The flowers are a rich source of nectar for long-tongued bumblebees, and shorter-tongued species can steal nectar (without carrying out pollination) by biting a hole through the surrounding petal. There is some suggestion that the nectar may contain the toxic alkaloids, so it would perhaps be unwise to grow them in close proximity to bee-hives. Being moisture-dependent, they are unsuited to a drier soils.