General Characteristics: Plant in moist, fertile, humus-rich or boggy soil in full sun or partial shade. Divide every three to four years and discard old, woody rhizomes to maintain vigor. Young foliage may be damaged by frost. Suggested uses: Beds and borders, Bog garden, Containers, Cottage/Informal, Waterside, Woodland.
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.