Tried and true is really a good description of the plants we call Astilbes. They are long-lived, easy care perennials for shady, part shady, or sometimes sunny situations. Romence Gardens already carries more than a dozen varieties, and yet we added 3 more new ones this year! Do you know why?
One reason might be a new color, another reason is a more compact or bigger growth habit, and a third would be a better or different flower shape.
Astilbe flowers come in favorite garden colors: reds, pinks and whites – more descriptively named lilac, rose, magenta, cream, and lavender – in the form of airy plumes. Some of these blooms are quite densely packed, others are more open; some are tall and upright and others are nodding or weeping. But all are beautiful, colorful, great texture filler flowers/plants for your perennial garden. They start to bloom in late spring, in mid-summer, or even late summer depending on the variety. Most gardeners leave the faded flowers on the plants to enjoy the dried heads all fall and even into the winter.
The foliage on most Astilbes is fern-like and deeply divided with small-toothed leaflets. Most are deep green in color, with glossy or hairy leaves. All grow from thick, fibrous-rooted crowns and form nice roundy clumps that slowly spread.
ALL ASTILBES ARE CONSIDERED DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT!
The Astilbe Younique Series that is new this year fits all of these categories. But they also offer a higher flower scape count and more compact foliage than many other varieties. The fast growing plants quickly form a nice mound of petite foliage. Younique Carmine has stronger stems, and more colorful flowers – bunches of fragrant, triangular, fuchsia-red plumes getting about 18 inches tall in bloom, with the plant itself spreading about 24 inches in maturity. Younique Lilac is topped by bunches of fragrant, triangular, lavender pink plumes which grow to about 18 inches tall and the plant to about 18 inches wide.
Astible chinensis ‘Delft Lace’ is a recently discovered variety of unknown parentage (suspected to be a combination of neighboring chinensis and japanica plants). It has deep blue-green, waxy foliage with a silver-lacey overlay, much like the foliage of the ever popular selection ‘Visions’, with a softer, much more garden-worthy bloom, strongly held high above the foliage on candy apple red stems. The buds emerge deep salmon-pink and open to a soft apricot-pink. It blooms in mid to late summer.
Astilbes are regal flowers that are also popular because of their versatility. Use them with ferns, irises, hostas and other plants that need moisture and average soil. A partly shady setting or along a pond is good. The chinensis variety can tolerate drier conditions for use in rock gardens or as groundcovers. In mixed beds combine astilbes with lady’s mantle, lung-worts, or Siberian iris. Taller plants can be used with Soloman’s seals in a garden or as the ‘thriller’ in combination pots. Shorter plants can be uses as the ‘fillers’.
Astilbe TIPS:
1. Moisture – consistant = #1 requirement, especially if grown in full sun. Summer droughts are its biggest problem. So is too much winter wetness – so provide drainage.
2. Best blooming will be in part shade – either morning sun and afternoon shade or filtered light. It will grow in full shade but not bloom as well. The edge of a woodland garden is nice.
3. It likes to be fed. Use high nitrogen (20-10-10) as you do for your lawn. Experts say that the best time is in October because the plant’s growth pattern is to beef up for the winter in November; but others say early spring is fine.
4. Buds are formed in the fall so best to get it planted in the ground before September ends.
5. Divide the overgrown plants every 3-4 years. Again, get this done after blooming but before the end of September.
Astilbe Aspirations – definitely a good thing to have!
One of our hottest sellers so far for 2011 is Calibrachoa Superbells ‘Blackberry Punch’. New from Proven Winners this year, Blackberry Punch has masses of tiny petunia like flowers that are a beautiful pinkish purple with a large dark throat. The Superbells series from Proven Winners has been bred for high disease resistance and low maintenance. There is no deadheading required! They are a great choice for masses of color to spill over hanging baskets and window boxes. They play very well with other plants in combinations. Use them as a spiller plant to flow over the side of the pot. Some ideas to combine it with include; Bidens ‘Goldilocks Rocks’, Supertunia ‘Royal Velvet’, Verbena ‘Superbena Pink Shades’, Bacopa ‘Snowstorm Pink’.
