Florists appreciate astilba for long, lush flowering, shade tolerance and resistance to high humidity soil.

A spreading bush with openwork leaves on reddish cuttings looks spectacular not only during flowering, but also during the entire garden season.

Brief description of the plant

Astilbe - herbaceous plant family Saxifrage. Japan, East Asia and North America can be considered the birthplace of this decorative perennial. The genus includes about 40 species and more than 400 varieties. Astilbe height varies from 15 to 200 cm. Flowers are collected in panicle inflorescences 10-60 cm long. Coloring can be varied: flowers of white, red, pink and purple shades look especially attractive. Large leaves form an openwork bush of dark green, burgundy, bronze color. The fruit is a capsule with small seeds. Flowering time is June-August.

Choosing the right place and time for planting will guarantee that astilbe will quickly take root.

Growing conditions

Astilbe don't need a lot of light for rapid growth... Best of all, she feels in a rarefied shade. In such conditions, flowering will be long and abundant.

Although varieties with white and light pink flowers ("Weise Perle", "Gloria", "Bergkristall" and others) feel great in the sun. Flowering in this case is shorter, but twice as intense.

Astilba looks spectacular on semi-shady, rocky hills, in ridges along the lawns, on the shore. This plant will help you to tastefully decorate the site and bring life to even the darkest corners of your garden property.

Main varieties

Astilbe davidii

A plant with a broadly spreading bush, reaches a height of 150 cm. Leaves are compound, wrinkled, light green in color and brownish veins. The flowers are lilac-pink with a lowered axis. Blooms in July-August.

Now, many flower growers, in order to create a special decor for a flower garden, try to plant in their area not daisies and carnations that are familiar to everyone, but something unusual and original. Astilbe is ideal for these purposes. This perennial is unusually decorative, not capricious, and multiplies easily. Astilba enchants with its dark green carved leaves with small airy flowers, gracefully gathered in panicles, but in order for it to delight you for a long time, you need to know how to care for it. In him important element is the transplant of astilba in the fall to another place. Why this is needed and how to perform such a procedure, our article will tell.

Astilbe plant

The astilbe flower is a member of the Saxifrag family. You can meet him in East Asia, Japan or in North America(where he comes from). In Russia, astilba has also been grown quite willingly recently. Depending on the variety, the height of this perennial shrub varies from 15 cm to 200 cm. The length of the fluffy panicles is also ambiguous and can be 10-60 cm. The color range of astilbe is quite diverse. Its flowers can be lilac, red, pink and white.

Dignity

Astilba has many advantages:

• Completely unpretentious in care.
• The process of its reproduction is quite simple.
• It drains the soil in an excellent way (for example, after rains), as it is very moisture-loving. Therefore, it is recommended to plant it along the walls of houses (in order to protect the foundation from excessive moisture).
• The shadow is not a hindrance to her, that is, it grows well in places that are poorly illuminated by the sun.
• During all summer months, astilba pleases everyone around with its lush flowering.

Varieties

Exists great amount types of astilba. Among them are hybrid varieties (there are about 40 of them), Japanese varieties, Korean and Chinese.

The species obtained by crossing the main base species (David's astilba) with others are called Anders hybrids. Their distinctive characteristics are: spherical, spreading, and also the shape of a bush in the form of a pyramid. The bushes, which are about 1 meter high, have the longest flowering period (35-45 days: July to August). The most popular varieties among summer residents include: Dynamite, Gloria, Ruby and Amethyst.

Low (up to 80 cm), cold-resistant and blooming before anyone else Japanese varieties easily take root in new places and continue to decorate backyard territory even after its flowering. The most common varieties are Europe, Montgomery, Rhineland and Deutschland.

Tall (about 1.1-1.2 m) Chinese varieties with rather large basal leaves and dense inflorescences (35-40 cm long) have successfully taken root on Russian soil. The main varieties are Vision in Pink, Purpurlanze and Vision in Red.

Regardless of the type, in caring for the plant, activities such as planting astilba in the fall and caring for open ground.

In what place is it better to plant

The easiest thing to care for astilba is to find a suitable planting site. The fact is that the plant is so unpretentious that it can be planted where other flowers simply will not survive. A huge advantage of this plant is that it can bloom magnificently in dense shade, as well as the fact that it can be planted in swampy areas and in lowlands where water often stagnates. The abundance of moisture in the soil is a prerequisite successful cultivation astilbe.

True, there are separate varieties that need the sun. These plants must be watered and mulched abundantly to maintain moisture in the soil.

There are some nuances to consider when choosing a landing site:

• The plant does not tolerate very close proximity to trees. The fact is that root system such neighbors significantly weakens astilba and does not allow it to develop properly.
• Very much to the liking of a plant of high soil groundwater... In this case, Astilba is guaranteed to receive moisture throughout the summer period.
• The flower does not tolerate drought. Therefore, in regions with a hot and dry climate, the plant looks depressed and has a weak flowering.

When transplanting astilba in the fall, you need to take into account these features of the plant.

Landing scheme

The landing pattern of such ornamental plant like astilba is pretty simple. If you want to contemplate perennial tall bushes on your site, then they should be planted at a distance of 50 cm from each other. If you are ready to be content with undersized representatives of this species, then each subsequent plant can be placed 30 cm from the previous one.

That is, when carrying out an astilba transplant in the fall, you must adhere to certain recommendations described above.

Boarding or transfer times

Despite all the unpretentiousness of astilba, in order to obtain a positive result in its cultivation, it is necessary not only to choose right place and plant in a certain way, but also comply with the timing of agrotechnical work.

The best time to plant or transplant Astilba in autumn is early September, and in spring - late April and early May. When planting a plant in early autumn, you need to correctly calculate the time that the seedling will need to fully grow stronger before the onset of cold weather and frost.

The time of transplanting astilba in the fall is determined by the end of its flowering. It makes no sense to postpone this work until a later date. The plant should be placed in a new place about a month before the air temperature drops below +5 degrees. Some growers are interested in when it is preferable to transplant astilba, in spring or autumn? Of course, these works are best done in spring, since in this case you can see the first flowering at the end of the season. If there is no such goal, then transplant in the fall.

How often to carry out an astilba transplant

What is the planting of astilba in the fall and care in the open field? According to flower growers, reproduction and transplanting of astilba should be done once every four years. It is during this time that the rhizome of the plant grows to such a size that it begins to bare, rising above the soil layer. This can lead to the fact that with the onset of frost, the flower will die. However, if after 4 years the plant is still in full bloom, then you should not look for another place in the garden for it, it is better to just feed it to help it bloom luxuriantly and for a long time.

Preparing the soil for planting

How to transplant astilba in the fall? What kind of soil does she like? She loves moist, light (loose), rich in humus and slightly acidic earth, filled with organic matter. In the fall, before planting (or transplanting), we perform the following work:

• We dig the ground to a depth of about 30 cm.
• We remove weeds (necessarily together with the root) and any debris.
• We bring in peat, rotted manure and humus (1 bucket of mixture is enough for 1m²).

In the spring, wanting to plant astilba, we dig a small hole (no more than 25-35 cm deep), we fill it with a complex fertilizer in granules (about 30 g), ash (half a glass) and compost; mix everything thoroughly and water, sparing no water. We wait until the liquid is completely absorbed into the soil, and only then we plant the prepared seedling, add earth to it, compact the soil around the plant to avoid the presence of air-filled voids, add earth (if necessary) and mulch with sawdust, bark, peat or straw. The layer height should be at least 4-7 cm.

Astilba transplant in the fall to another place

• The plant feels comfortable in one place for 4-5 years. If the flowering is no longer so lush, then this is a sure sign that it is better to transplant astilba.
• These works can be performed not only in spring or autumn, but also during the entire warm period, even when the plant is blooming and there are many buds on it.
• Transplanting astilba flowers in the fall in the country is carried out for various reasons, among which reproduction takes an important place. For a given plant, it is performed mainly by dividing the rhizome. Other methods are by cuttings and buds of renewal. In addition, planting astilba seeds in the fall can also be done, although many still prefer to propagate by dividing an overgrown bush.
• Divide young plant you can use your hands. To separate parts of the rhizome of astilba "aged", one cannot do without a shovel.

The place where the rhizome is divided must be generously sprinkled with ash to protect it from rotting and penetration of bacteria living in the ground.

In order to less injure the flower, together with the rhizome, it is advisable to capture more basal soil and transfer all this to a new place. After transplanting, the plant must be watered abundantly.

We prepare the pit for the new plant as indicated above. We plant a division in it so that the deepening of the renewal buds is 5-6 cm.After planting, we water the astilba abundantly so that the soil is properly compacted. In a couple of days, the bush will come to its senses and begin its life.

In the first year, the plant will be weak, so growers recommend removing all flower stalks on it so that the root system develops better.

Watering correctly

A feature of the growth of plant roots is that they grow exclusively in top layer soil. Therefore, it is very important to provide astilbe with sufficient watering throughout the growing season. In especially hot and dry periods, astilba should be watered twice a day - in the morning and in the evening. A layer of mulch with a thickness of 10 cm or more helps to retain moisture in the soil.

We will feed on time

It is optimal to feed astilba three times a year:

• We make the first top dressing at the very beginning of spring, when young shoots have already begun their development. For these purposes, we use complex nitrogen-containing fertilizers.
• The second, phosphorus feed is given after flowering.
• The third is carried out in the fall, when the flowering is over. This time we will restrict ourselves to liquid (in order to avoid burns on the stems of plants) potash fertilizers.

We trim

In late autumn, the entire aerial part of the plant must be cut off, leaving only very small hemp. It is also necessary to add mulch astilbe in the fall. This will save the plant from cold weather. Especially carefully you need to transplant astilba in the fall in Siberia and other regions with severe winters. So that the plants in the new place do not die due to the fact that their root system has not yet had time to become strong and hardy, it is imperative in the fall, as soon as the air temperature settles at -8-10 degrees Celsius, to cover the young seedlings with spruce branches or other covering material.

Pests

Despite the fact that astilbe is very resistant to many diseases, and pests are not afraid of it, sometimes there are such "troubles" as the formation of brown and yellow spots on the leaves affected by the slobbering penny. These pests suck out the juice from the leaf tissue, thereby destroying not only individual leaf plates, but also the entire bush. You can fight the penny by using various insecticides, for example, "Karbofos".

In addition to the penny, nematodes (strawberry and gallic) can also attack astilbe. The first causes deformation of the leaves, and the second causes significant damage to the roots. These pests are poorly tolerated by drugs such as "Fitoferm". Using it, you can completely get rid of nematodes.

Astilba is an ornamental perennial plant that is often planted to decorate garden plots. The height of the plants depends on the variety. There are low-growing varieties (about 20 cm) and tall ones, the length of which reaches 2 meters. Dissected leaflets, color from usual green to burgundy. Incredibly beautiful flowers of white, lilac, red, pink or purple tints collected in paniculate inflorescences.

The homeland of Astilbe is considered to be North America and Asia. Despite its thermophilic nature, in the northern regions, the plant has taken root well and from year to year, pleases its owners with beautiful and lush flowering. Thanks to selection, it became possible to grow astilba in Siberia, where the summers are short and the winters are cold and long.

In this video, you can learn more about the plant:

When to plant astilba in open ground

Astilba has a home distinctive feature: after winter, the plant wakes up later than other perennials. Stable vegetation begins at a stable above-zero temperature (not lower than +10). For the Siberian regions, this is the end of May or the beginning of June. It is during these months that plants are planted in open ground.

Experienced gardeners, practiced autumn planting... Produced in late summer or autumn. The main thing is not to be late before the first frost. For a month, perennials should take root and adapt to a new place.

Where to plant astilba on the site

When choosing a place on the site, you need to know what the plant loves:

• Moderate soil moisture. Stagnation of water in the soil, threatens with decay of the roots. With high humidity, freezing is possible in winter.
• Prefers diffused sunlight. Grows well in the shade of a house or large trees.
• Responsive to fertile soil. It is desirable that the soil retains moisture well, but not heavy.
• It develops well at high soil moisture. It is useful to plant near a pond, river or pool. Near water, the humidity is always higher.

Planting astilba in the spring in open ground

Perennials are propagated by dividing the bush (vegetatively). In the spring, carefully dig in the bush with a spatula and separate part of the bush. When dividing, make sure that on each seedling there are enough roots and several promising growth points. To protect against diseases, the cuts on the root system are treated with crushed charcoal.

A less popular method is seed propagation. Used by gardeners to breed new varieties and hybrids. Having an adult bush on the site, it is easier and safer to use the vegetative method.

It is possible to plant plants in flower beds, together with others ornamental shrubs and flowers. When choosing a place, the peculiarity of the growth of a perennial is taken into account. The bush reaches 30 cm or more in width.Therefore, a distance of 40 cm is left between the plants.

Pits up to 30 cm deep and wide are dug in the flowerbed.Fill 1/3 of the wells with the nutrient mixture, consisting of:

• Humus
• Bone meal
• Complex fertilizers for ornamental plants

After filling the hole with a nutrient mixture, pour abundant water over it. Carefully place the cut in a hole, cover it with a layer of earth so that the growth point is at a depth of no more than 3 cm. Moisten the soil around the plants and mulch with pieces of bark or chopped straw.

Outdoor care for astilba

Minimum care is about astilbe. In the open field, it is not difficult to care for a flower crop. What plants need:

• Continuous top-up of mulching material (chopped straw) or loosening of the soil to remove weeds.
• Regular fertilizing with fertilizers in which phosphorus and potassium prevail.
• Watering with water a couple of times a week. Increase the frequency of watering in hot, dry weather. In cloudy and cold, on the contrary, they reduce or completely stop watering the plants.

Although the perennial loves warmth, it tolerates the harsh winters in Siberia under a thick layer of snow. Additional protection against frost is a layer of mulch. Sprinkle mulching material around the plant in the fall.

Improve appearance flower beds, helps autumn pruning... Before the onset of cold weather, fading inflorescences with peduncles are removed. Carefully cut off the aerial part with pruning shears, leaving petioles 10 cm long above the ground.

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Astilba - planting and care in the open field without unnecessary hassle!

Incredible astilba, planting and care in the open field, for which they are quite simple, will delight the owners with their beauty for a long time. But, you need to know when to plant a pet, in autumn or spring, to be able to choose a combination with other flowers that is most successful in landscape design and take into account many nuances. Below you will find a photo of a flower, as well as learn how to care for your pet and how it is wintering.

Astilba - landing by the rules

Astilba - lush perennial flower that will grow beautifully in shady garden... However, some varieties also prefer to grow in the sun. As a rule, the beauty begins to bloom in early summer, then in the fall the upper part dies off, but the root system remains alive.

A pet is planted, starting in the spring season, immediately after the frost and soil thaw, and until mid-autumn, but necessarily, 5-6 weeks before the onset of stable cold weather, since the plant must have time to get stronger. This crop can be grown from seeds and rhizomes.

When planting, the rhizome should not be too dry or elongated, curved and in no case wrinkled. Also, there should be no rotten parts. The root should be firm and fresh. If growth buds have appeared on the rhizome, then it is better to immediately plant it in the ground. The optimal time for planting rhizomes in open ground is early-mid May.

Before planting, the site must be dug up, removed weeds... It is important to fertilize the soil and for this you can use compost, manure or rotted peat. Dig small holes (25 cm deep at a distance of 30 cm). It is advisable to sprinkle the pits with a small amount of ash, which will well protect the roots from rot and various small pests that live in the soil.

Water the planting holes well. The rhizome is placed in the ground not too deeply so that the buds are lightly sprinkled with soil. After that, sprinkle on top with a small layer of peat crumbs or humus, which retain moisture well and prevent the roots from withering in hot weather or freezing in autumn, in case of unexpected cold weather.

Sowing seeds begins in March. The process is quite complicated - first the flower is planted at home. Take a wide and high container, place peat with sand in a 1: 1 ratio. Some gardeners settle for a 3: 1 ratio. Then a small layer of snow (up to 1 cm) is spread over the top of the earth. The seeds are sown on this layer of snow. It will start to melt and submerge planting material into peat. When the snow has melted, the container is placed on the top section of the refrigerator. After the sprouts appear, they are transferred to a warm, bright place at room temperature. Watering is best done with a syringe, by injecting water into the ground. Water should be room temperature... When the leaves appear on the sprouts, they are seated in separate containers.

If you plant seeds directly into the soil, you must remember that they may not sprout. They need to be scattered on top of the ground and not sprinkled with anything. Planting time is February-March. Crops need to be sprinkled with a small amount of water, they will enter the ground on their own. But, be careful not to drown deeply.

The sprouts are not transplanted into the greenhouse until the ground warms up. After the young growth appears, they begin to weed the ground. Remember to water. In mid to late September, the plant is pruned and covered for the winter. Grown from seeds, astilba will bloom only in the third year.

Where to plant astilba?

The location you choose to plant will ensure that the plant will take root. The choice of location depends on the type of flower. Culture is easy to do without sunlight, grows rather quickly in partial shade. Varieties such as Gloria or Weiss Pearl can take root well in the sun. High varieties are planted at a distance of half a meter. Low grades - 30 cm.

Outdoor care for beautiful flowering

Astilba loves frequent watering. Its roots grow upward where the earth dries out faster. The plant withers quickly due to lack of moisture, but at the same time, you should not flood the plantings. Astilba is very vulnerable after winter. She survives frosts well, but spring temperature jumps are destructive for her, therefore, in autumn, the plant and the soil between the bushes are covered with humus, peat, compost and covered with spruce branches.

How can you feed astilba?

To prevent your green friend from dying, the soil needs to be fertilized every year. If using, take peat or compost. Covering organic matter in spring, in autumn, do not forget to change the layer to fresh and nutritious. In the spring, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers will be good so that the culture actively starts growing after winter (dissolve 15-20 grams of urea in 10 liters of water and water the plants). In the middle of summer and autumn, the beauty can be fed with phosphorus-potassium dressings, which will allow the rhizomes to gain nutrition for the upcoming winter period... in combination with organic ones, they will allow you to grow incredible beauty astilba in your summer cottage.

On average, a bush lives for five years. After this time (or if necessary), it must be transplanted. A part of the bush is separated with a shovel. The damaged area is sprinkled with ash or crushed coal, and transplanted.

Due to abundant watering, the culture can be affected by root rot. In this case, you can water the plants with Hom or others that will be available (diluted according to the instructions).

Another danger for astilba comes from various pests: if the leaves of the plant turn yellow and curl, then they need to be treated for the slobbery penny and leafhoppers. For this, it is better to use Mospilan, Rogor-S, Aktar and other drugs.

Another leaf pest is the strawberry nematode. In this case, the leaves become brown and covered with yellow specks. Gall nematode lives in the roots of the plant. In a neglected form, the plant may die.

Pruning for the winter is usually done in several step by step... This is the only way the culture hibernates without loss. After the culture has faded, its dried flowers must be cut off. If this is not done, the stems of the plant will begin to weaken. In the fall, the planting is cut off completely, then the rhizome is mulched with a rather thick layer of organic matter. The thickness of the layer will depend on the region of cultivation - in the Urals and Siberia it is desirable to make it thicker, but in the Kuban it is possible not to mulch at all, but it is better to play it safe - nature has its own rules. If, in the fall, they were not cut off, then this should be done in the spring, necessarily before the appearance of fresh shoots.

Astilba in landscape design and popular varieties

This flower is not whimsical, cohabits well and blends with other cultures that love shade. Astilba blooms with delicate peduncles. Varieties with white and pinkish hues can often be seen. Lilies of the valley, bergenias, irises and other plants with whole leaves will be a great addition to a flowerbed with astilbe, so feel free to plant them nearby.

Landscape designers prefer to plant several flower beds with these bushes only, but different varieties that differ in color and height.

The beauty is planted on alpine coaster or along lawns. Place plants away from strong and powerful trees and lush shrubs, the root system of which can be fatal.

Astilba has many varieties, among which the following can be distinguished:

• Arends - hybrid variety, can grow up to 1 meter in height, the peduncle looks like a pyramid with rounded flowers. Arends blooms in July and August, flowering lasts about forty days;
• Brautschlyayer has whiteish-yellow inflorescences, reaches 80 cm, begins flowering in early June;
• The Feinel variety is well suited for cutting, its flowers are painted in a fiery crimson hue;
• The shape of the flowers of the Gloria variety has a diamond shape, they are painted white

Beautiful astilba will delight with its flowering and look harmoniously in a flowerbed with other plants, only if you yourself want it. After all, in fact, all the complexity is in free time and desire.