A variety of shades and unusual shapes are the main reasons why the astilbe flower has become a central figure in the landscape design of many summer cottages. The ornamental plant is unpretentious, blooms for a long time and easily propagates.
A bit of history
Under natural conditions, bright panicled inflorescences are found everywhere in the forests of the North American continent. See them in the humid climate of the East. The astilbe became a horticultural culture thanks to Lord Hamilton, who delivered it to Europe in the 19th century.
Magnificent astilbe
The name of the flower translates as "non-shiny", but this did not prevent him from immediately attracting attention. Astilboy became interested in breeders (the main enthusiasts are Emil Lemoine and Georg Arends).
In Russia, the plant got in the early 20th century. Now hybrid astilba is being grown in summer cottages, causing dumb enthusiasm among those around.
Despite the fact that long-term culture came from the monsoon climate, it adapted perfectly in the middle zone of the former USSR. Thanks to winter hardiness, astilbe has taken root in cooler regions (except that it is not in the Far North).
What does it look like
Astilba is a large herbaceous plant from the Kamenelomkov family. It is cultivated to decorate flowerbeds and mixborders, and also grown to cut into bouquets.
Flowering Astilbe bush
In nature, there are several types of astilbe that have common features, thanks to which you can not confuse culture with any other.
Description
| Plant parts | Features |
| Stem | Erect, average height - 0.5-0.7 m, but grows up to 2 m. |
| Sheets | Openwork, 2-3 separate, framed along the edge with a serrated-toothed edging. Keep their brilliant dark green, bronze or burgundy color to the very frosts. |
| Flowers | Numerous, small, due to which the brush-like panicles seem to be covered with a fluff. Inflorescences from 10 to 60 cm long acquire a pyramidal, rhombic and other shape. |
| Rhizome | Woody, located close to the surface of the soil. Each year adds 5 cm and in the spring gives new stems. |
| Fetus | In the form of a box filled with microscopic seeds of a dark brown hue. |
Note! When astilbe blooms, the garden is filled with a delicate aroma that caresses the smell for months.
Main varieties
In nature, there are about 25 species of this plant. In Russia, 3 representatives of culture are popular.
Types of Astilbe
| Name | Description |
| Chinese | Reaches a height of 0.5-1.1 m. It is distinguished by weak branching. Large petiolate leaves are formed at the base of upright shoots. Above the stems, dark green, with a metallic tint, the foliage decreases in size. Inflorescences located on the tops have a pyramidal shape, 30-60 cm long. The buds are painted in lilac or purple shades. |
| Japanese | A compact bush growing to 0.6-0.8 m. A silver ornament is visible on dark green shiny small leafy plates. The plant gives panicles of white, pink or bright red shades. Japanese Astilba blooms earlier than other species and even after the inflorescences dry, it does not lose its attractive decorative effect. |
| Arends | Spreading meter-long shrub of spherical or pyramidal shape. Cirrus dissected leaves of dark green color densely cover the stems. Long racemose inflorescences with red, pink, lilac, white buds elegantly swing on the tops of the shoots. |
Additional Information! There are other varieties of culture. On slender dense bushes of Thunberg, green foliage is evenly distributed along the entire length of the stem. Leaf astilbe height does not exceed 0.5 m, sometimes the bush just spreads on the ground.
When and how does astilbe bloom
Each variety of culture has its own timing of flowering. Much depends on the region. To southerners, the bush may show buds in May. In the middle lane, astilba is fragrant in July-August.
In most varieties on the tops of shoots, lush inflorescences form in June. Corolla of the correct form are elongated petals that frame low stamens. As the astilbe blooms, a heady aroma swirls around it for days. It lasts from 2 weeks to a month.
Japanese variety
Popular varieties
In the genus Astilbe, there are more than 200 unusual varieties. All of them to grow in one area is unrealistic. Therefore, gardeners choose for themselves some of the most prominent representatives of culture.
Varieties of Astilbe
| Name | Description |
| Astilba Burgundy Red | Under this name, a large number of varieties are combined with a richly red tint of pyramid inflorescences. The height of the bushes ranges from 0.5 to 0.7 m, the width reaches 40 cm due to the large branching of the flexible stems. |
| Deutschland Astilba | A low hybrid bush of German selection is a real decoration of the garden. He has lush white inflorescences gently enveloping the reddish stems. |
| Peach blossom | It is also called astilbe Peach Blossom for a salmon-pink shade of panicled inflorescences framing a bush up to 0.6 cm high. |
| Purplekirche | A meter bush is distinguished by an elegant pyramid. Asturba Purpurkerze has long pinkish-colored candle inflorescences. |
| Bonn Astilba | The bush of medium height is decorated with brown-green carved leaves. Lush purple-pink panicles fragrant July-August. |
| Washington astilba | The variety stands out with thick white panicles that frame most of the stems. |
| Astilbe Delft Lace | It is difficult not to notice the Astilbu Delft Lace in the garden - the plant stands out with its richly vinous burgundy panicles, formed on the same shade of stems. Reddish edging is also on glossy leaves. |
| Bumalda Astilba | A dwarf with a height of 0.4-0.6 m is distinguished by a reddish-green leaf plate. White petals of inflorescences are decorated with raspberry border. |
| Mighty Chocolade Cherry | The tall Astilbe bush, Mighty Chocolate Cherry, lives up to its name thanks to its chocolate branches and cherry panicles. |
| Erica Astilba | The average length of the bush is 90 cm, it is characterized by reddish-brown foliage, complementing the soft pink shade of rhombic inflorescences. |
| Anita Pfeiffer | Barely reaching a height of 90 cm, the astilbe bush Anita Pfeifer blooms in July with small lilac-pink inflorescences. |
| Cologne | A small hybrid grows to 0.6 m. Astilba Cologne is characterized by a compact bush, above which bright red inflorescences rise. |
| America | The stems of the plant are no more than 70 cm long, dotted with carved pale green leaves. In July, the bush is completely covered with a light pinkish fluff. |
| Amethyst | Hardly reaching 1 m in height, the bush has a spherical shape. Fluffy panicles of lilac color flaunt over green leaves. |
| Hyacinth | From a distance, a tall bush during flowering becomes like an elegant Christmas tree decorated with light lilac garlands of inflorescences. The juicy green leaves along the edge have a brownish edging. |
| Gloria Weiss | A shrub with a spherical cap of dark glossy leaves barely reaches a height of 1 m. Gloria is characterized by light cream or white shades of inflorescences. |
| Diamond | The variety is also called white astilbe because of the beautiful wide panicles from 14 to 20 cm wide. The background for them are large leaves of a light green hue. |
| Sister Teresa | Rhombic wide inflorescences have a delicate creamy color and a light aroma. Sister is characterized by a change in the shade of foliage: from dark green at the beginning of the season to light by the end of summer. |
| Red charm | A meter-long bush throws rare long pinkish-red inflorescences on the tops of stems of the same shade. |
| Look at me | Summer residents call the bush in a simple way - "Luke". At the dwarf on the red stems, large creamy pink panicles bloom, perfectly combined with openwork greens. |
Note! In the flower beds, burgundy astilbe (Vesuvius, Montgomery, Pomegranate, Afrotida varieties) and yellow, surrounded by undersized hosts, look original.
Open transplant
By purchasing a seedling, a perennial can immediately be planted in open ground, where it has been developing excellently for 10 years. Despite the unpretentiousness of the plant, take into account the specifics of planting.
Host Composition
Seat selection
Hybrids are cultivated exclusively on loose fertile soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction.
Important! Astilba is a moisture-loving perennial with a shallow rooting. It is advisable to set up a flower garden on a site with a high groundwater location.
The plant prefers shady areas. Only in the northern regions, where the sun is not so hot even in summer, astilba is planted in open areas.
Step-by-step landing process
- Pits are made small - up to 30 cm deep.
- Complex fertilizer (30 g) mixed with bone meal (2 barley) is poured at the bottom.
- A layer of humus is placed on top.
- The hole is moistened and an astilbe is planted in the center, sprinkling the rhizome with earth.
If the flowerbed is formed from several bushes, maintain a distance of 0.5 m for tall and 0.3 for low.
Astilbe transplant
Reproduction of astilbe
In the southern regions, preference is given to reproduction by seeds, simply scattering them on the surface of the soil. In cooler areas, cuttings and cuttings are more popular.
Cuttings
The procedure is carried out in the spring, when the recovery buds begin to grow. They are carefully cut off with a piece of rhizome.
Important! So that neither the bush nor the stalk is sick, the slices are immediately disinfected with ash.
The processes are placed in a pot with peat and gravel (3: 1 ratio) and covered with a plastic film, which is removed after rooting. Seedlings are transferred to the flowerbed in the spring of next season.
Shanks of Astilbe
Dividing the bush
This method is more familiar and less laborious:
- dig a bush selected for breeding in the spring;
- cut off all the foliage;
- divided, so that 3-5 kidneys remain on each dividend;
- remove dead rhizome.
Parts of the bush are immediately planted on a flower bed at a distance of 30 cm from each other. While rooting, plants are watered abundantly.
If you divide the bush in early March, by August you can admire the flowering astilbe.
Basic care
Culture does not have special requirements for agricultural technology. Weeding and cultivation are carried out as necessary.
Watering
The culture does not tolerate drought. Carrying out care, astilbe is watered as often as possible, without waiting for the earth to dry, otherwise the leaves will curl and curl near the bush, the inflorescences will fall ahead of time.
Top dressing
Fertilizers need bushes constantly. Their composition depends on the period of plant life:
- in the spring, nitrogen supplementation predominates to increase mass;
- immediately before flowering, increase the dose of potassium and phosphorus.
Astilba is responsive to organic slow-acting fertilizers that are applied to the soil during digging.
During flowering
Plants need enhanced watering. It is carried out 2 times a day: in the morning and before sunset. This contributes to the proper formation of inflorescences.
Note! In mid-July, add additional fertilizer, taking potassium nitrate at the rate of 2 tbsp. on 10 l of water.
During rest
As soon as the astilbe fades, dried panicles are cut. Spend the last top dressing, introducing under each bush 20 g of superphosphate.
Winter preparations
Despite the cold resistance of perennials, there is a risk of freezing of the kidneys of renewal. To preserve them, dead stems are cut off under the root in autumn, the soil above the bush is covered with a thick layer of mulch and insulation.
Winter preparations
Diseases and Pests
Large-scale pest control is not carried out - insects do not annoy the culture. If nematodes or pennies appear on the bush, they are removed mechanically or the plants are sprayed with Aktara, Karbafos. The soil is cultivated by Fitoverm.
Astilbe also does not need special treatment. Her diseases are associated with a violation of the main modes. It is enough to establish them, and the bush will return to normal. Although astilbe diseases can also provoke insects, if you do not remove them from the flowerbed in time.
The culture is easy to grow, easy to care for. But the design astilba exceeds all expectations.
