Do you want to make your garden beautiful and lively during the summer season? Then look no further than the Astilbe plant! With its elegant flower colors and green leaves, this plant is perfect for adding color and texture to any garden. Astilbe is a beautiful and low-maintenance plant that will fill your garden with flowers during the summer season.
In this article, we will provide you with some useful tips and tricks that will give you a comprehensive guide to growing and caring for your astilbe planter. Astilbe belongs to the Saxifragaceae family, and its scientific name is Astilbe. The glossy, open leaves of this plant retain their decorative effect throughout the summer, and the small flowers on long stems are collected in large paniculate flowers. Astilbe blooms for a long period from early July to mid-August and is an early flowering variety. However, to ensure your astilbe plant thrives, you need to know how to properly care for it.
A Comprehensive Guide to Grow and Caring for Astilbe
Astilbe, also known as false spirea. It has elegant leaves that are dark green, glossy, pinnatissected, and have a wedge-shaped base, located on strong, robust petioles. It is a beautiful spreading shrub-like plant. The flowers are very beautiful in color – white, pink, lilac, red and violet purple in many different shades, you can choose every color. Astilbe is long branched, and the flowers can be erect or drooping.
Astilbe is a moisture-loving plant. Therefore, it rarely grows due to summers in dry regions, but this plant is easy to care for. Known for its stunning blooms and delicate foliage, Astilbe is a perennial plant that has become popular with gardeners worldwide. The tree has rare endurance and is able to survive through winter hardiness. It thrives best in loose, moist and nutritious soil.
Astilbe Plant Care:
To ensure the growth and development of your Astilbe plant, you need to provide proper plant care. There are some important things to keep in mind when caring for astilbe plants:
Choosing the right location:
The first step in caring for an astilbe plant is choosing the right location. Astilbe plants prefer partial shade and grow best in moist, well-drained fertile soil. They cannot tolerate very dry conditions, so it is essential to choose a site that does not dry out easily. It is also best to avoid areas with strong winds as delicate flowers can be easily damaged.
Astilbe plant cannot tolerate intense sun heat. Otherwise, it will quickly fade and lose brightness. Astilbe grows best in the shade of large plants and the trees are green.
It is important to choose the right place before transplanting astilbe tubers. Early and late varieties bloom well and for a long time both in the shade and in the sun, but for medium flowering plants it is better to take care of shaded corners, since the bright July sun sharply reduces their flowering time.
Soil Preparation:
Astilbe plants do well in fertile loam and sandy-loam soils rich in organic matter and prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Before planting, mix some compost or well-rotted manure with the soil to improve its fertility. You can also add some peat moss to the soil to increase acidity. Astilbe plants do not do well in heavy clay soils, so avoid this type of soil.
Planting Astilbe:
Astilbe bulbs can be transplanted in any growing season, even during flowering, and then they need to be watered for 2–3 weeks after transplanting. But the most favorable time for transplanting is after flowering, in August or March.
Astilbe bulbs should be planted in the spring or fall when the soil is moist and cool. Dig a hole twice the size of the plant’s root ball and add some organic matter to the hole. Place the plant gently in the hole, making sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface. Water the plant well after planting.
Watering for Astilbe:
An important aspect of astilbe plant care is proper watering. These plants need to keep the soil moist to thrive, so watering them as needed is essential, especially during the dry season. Avoid overwatering, overwatering can cause root rot. A good rule of thumb is to water the soil deeply once a week during the growing season.
Most varieties of astilbe can grow in areas with high groundwater and can even tolerate standing water. Cannot tolerate prolonged drought. Infertile soil, intense sun and a lack of rain can kill the astilbe plant. In such cases, the astilbe plant needs to be watered twice a day – in the morning and in the evening.
Fertilizer and Astilbe Top Dressing:
Successful propagation of astilbe without top dressing is unthinkable. Fertilizer should be applied at least twice a year:
At the beginning of spring, when new shoots appear on the surface of the soil, nitrogen compounds are used. You can feed with urea solution—10 grams of fertilizer per 15 liters of water. In the flowering process, plantings should be fertilized with potash and phosphorus compounds. To do this, use 2 tbsp. Potassium nitrate per bucket of water, as well as superphosphate at a rate of 20 grams per plant. In order for fertilizers to be absorbed faster and better, it is useful to combine this method with soil loosening, watering and mulching.
Avoid fertilizing in the fall, as this can stimulate new growth that may not have time to harden off before winter.
[READ MORE: HOW TO GROW & CARE LOTUS PLANT]
Astilbe needs to be fertilized before planting. It is a perennial plant so mix organic manure, a handful of bone meal, a handful of neem cake and ash with the soil at the time of transplanting.
Astilbe Pruning:
Astilbe plants require no special pruning, but they should be removed after the flowers have dried to prolong the blooming period. Cut off the flower stalks at the base of the plant after flowering. Cut the leaves to the ground to prepare the plant for heat, which will turn the leaves into compost.
Astilbe Propagation:
Astilbe propagation can be done by two methods, by seed and by bulb transplants.
Astilbe plants left in the same location for too long can cause plant damage, so the bulbs may need to be separated once every three to four years. The best time to divide astilbe is in the spring before new growth begins. Dig up the soil and divide the bulbs into separate small sections, making sure each section has some roots and leaves. Transplant the division into soil and water thoroughly.
With the help of seeds, species of astilbes are often propagated, varieties – for breeding purposes only. Growing seeds on your own is a thankless task. Often, the characteristics of the mother plant are lost. But if you really want, then of course you can try it.
Astilbe seeds are very small. They fasten well, but they do not always have time to ripen, especially in the northern regions. If the seeds are still ripe, they are plucked from the flowers in September. And in March-April, they are sown in boxes filled with a mixture of sphagnum peat and sand at the ratio of 3: 1.
Astilbe Varieties:
There are more than 20 species of astilbe plants and many different cultivars for garden use. Some popular types of astilbe plants include:
Astilbe chinensis: This species has fluffy, pink or purple plumes of flowers and is known to be drought tolerant.
Astilbe japonica: This species has long, pink, white or red plumes of flowers and is commonly used in cut flower arrangements.
Astilbe arendsii: This is a hybrid of several species and has a wide range of flower colors including pink, white, red and lavender.
[READ MORE: ENDLESS SUMMER HYDRANGEA: A YEAR-ROUND DELIGHT FOR YOUR GARDEN]
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How tall do astilbe plants grow?
Astilbe plants can grow anywhere from 6 inches to 5 feet tall, depending on the species.
