Secrets of growing beautiful Astilba in the garden

Astilba: flower description

Have you ever seen stunningly bright, spreading clusters of inflorescences on your garden plots, which immediately create a great mood? Of course yes! But hardly remember the name of this plant ... This is Astilba: bushes with lush inflorescences, reminiscent of clusters, it is from the saxifrage family with a long flowering period. Now there are more than 400 varieties of this beautiful plant. The height varies depending on the variety: from 15 cm to 2 meters.

Astilba is distinguished by small inflorescences that gather in unusual, broom-like tassels. Their size varies from 10 to 60 cm. The color palette of astilbe is huge: from white to deep purple. Leaves are dark green, burgundy or bronze.

Astilba flower after flowering (flowering period - June-August) turns into a box with seeds.

Planting astilba is not necessary in a well-lit place. She feels quite comfortable in shaded areas.

How to properly plant and care for astilba

Astilba is not capricious, so it's easy to take care of her.

First, prepare the soil before planting: dig up the selected area, freeing it from entangled roots from other plants, and nourish the soil well with organic fertilizers. The next step is to prepare the holes for planting plants, in each - add a mixture of organic and mineral fertilizers. Next, plant the astilbe and sprinkle it with earth, immediately starting mulching the soil around each planting. The distance between plantings is 30-50 cm.

 About the reproduction of Astilba

Astilba is propagated by several methods: sowing seeds, dividing a flower bush, dividing the buds.

- The method of "sowing seeds" is used in few places, since astilba is gradually losing its decorative effect. Sowing is mainly used when breeding new varieties of this beautiful plant.

- But "dividing a flower bush" for reproduction is practiced almost everywhere. What do they do for this? Dig up the selected bush, divide it into parts, each of which has several new buds. New seedlings are planted in a selected area at a distance of about 30 cm from each other. Of course, new seedlings need daily watering.

The timing of the division of astilbe is the first decade of March, in this case, already in September, you will be pleased with a strong flowering miracle plant.

- The method of "dividing the kidneys" is considered by many gardeners to be the simplest, fastest and most reliable. It is used in the first months of spring during the formation of new shoots and buds.

How is it done? The buds are carefully cut off along with some part of the root system from the main bush. Be sure to cover each place of the cut with ash. Further, each part of the plant that is soaked is planted in a small container with a mixture (gravel plus peat) and covered with a film. We are waiting for autumn or even next spring to transplant new young bushes to a permanent place. After planting, we water it regularly, since insufficient watering during this period leads to a loss of the decorative properties of the plant, to the fall of foliage and flowers.

Experienced gardeners recommend keeping astilba in one place for no more than 5 years, and they are choosing a new place for it.

It is important that this lush beauty tolerates frosty winters normally, but can react to unstable spring weather and temperature changes.Therefore, in the spring months, astilba must be additionally covered.