General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Prefers moist, humusy, organically rich soils. Soils must not be allowed to dry out. If regularly watered, foliage will usually remain attractive throughout the growing season. A summer compost mulch helps retain soil moisture. Chinese astilbes are generally noted, however, for having better sun and drought tolerance than other species of astilbe. Removing faded flower stalks will not prolong bloom but may improve plant appearance, particularly if a ground cover look is desired. On the other hand, many gardeners leave the flower stalks in place after bloom because of the continuing ornamental interest of the dried seed heads. Divide clumps when overcrowding occurs (every 3-4 years).

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Astilbes are mainstays of shade and woodland gardens. They are clump-forming perennials which feature graceful, fern-like mounds of mostly basal, 2-3 ternately compound leaves, usually with sharply-toothed leaflets, and tiny flowers densely packed into erect to arching, plume-like flower panicles rising above the foliage on slender, upright stems. Chinese astilbes are slowly spreading, rhizomatous plants which bloom later than the arendsii hybrids and generally feature hairy, biserrate, elliptic-oval, 3-ternate leaflets. The botanical variety pumila is a dwarf plant which spreads more quickly than most other Chinese astilbes. It features a foliage mound to 6” tall of dark green leaves and thick, stiff panicles of lilac-pink flowers on 9-12” tall stems in early to mid-summer.