I've always thought that the perennial Astilbe was an OK flower. It just never grabbed me in that way that makes me want to put them in my garden. I since changed my tune completely. Driving down East Dudley in Westfield there is the most stunning display of Astilbe that I've ever seen. It made me covet them for my garden. The Astilbe are color coordinated with the house, and it compliments it perfectly. Sometimes we try to put so many different things into our garden we forget that a large simple mass of one item can be even more effective.
For those that don't know, an Astilbe is a perennial that has deeply lobed, almost fern-like and airy foliage. It's flowers are feathery plumes that are born on tall stalks above the foliage. Flowers come in shades of white, pink, and red. Flowers stay in bloom several weeks and slowly fade in color as they dry.
They prefer partial shade and they generally are disease and insect free. Even when they're done blooming, their flowers will dry on the plant, and will still look attractive for several months. 
Posts
4 comments:
I have several varieties of Astilbe planted in my garden, both in shade and sun. One of them still has the old dried flowers on it from last year (I never got around to cutting them down).
Wow Astilbe are so beautiful in mass plantings. I have several I started from seed but they are still small right now.
You're right -- that flower is beautiful in mass planting. I'm trying to think in terms of larger numbers for areas of my yard that I'm going to have a hard time filling in otherwise. But I'm not there yet -- I'd like to pick TX natives, but the ones that would do the job quickest are of course from elsewhere (and then potentially invasive! So I'm not rushing my selection.
What beautiful, beautiful images! I love this plant, and one of the reasons is that it spreads wildly in my garden!
Post a Comment