Favorite Astilbe?

me too

Well, while I was busy transitioning to the next phase of my life, I forgot to look at my container plants and the area trees. I didn't water the containers for heaven knows how long. I just noticed them yesterday. Dear Heaven! Parched and curled leaves every where. Spent the afternoon getting them hydrated. They perked up nicely so I'll get a couple more weeks out of them. But the trees!! The trees are turning!! The neighbor's maple is a beautiful golden glow. When did that happpen?

We are having perfect weather for fall color. Bright sunshiney warm days and cool nights. It will be a spectacular fall. Which brings me to a question. There is time to fall plant. I have room for a few more astilbe. What about 'Color Flash" astilbe?

http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/browseproducts/Astilbe-Color-Flash.HTML

Wow - Astilbes with foliage color. I'm thinking I'd be a sucker for the lime foliage. I'm wondering though at what point in the season the foliage color would show up. Where were these developed? They are reasonably priced. I think you should go for it.
I'm in such a quandry here. I've "touched" just about every bed in my yard this summer but still can't quite come up with a plan for my one half-day sun (in the afternoon) bed. It starts out full and lush in the spring and looks pretty decent until late summer/early fall. By now, there are so many bare stalks and empty spaces that I start putting my potted plants in the bare spots. The Campanulas (speciosa and 'Kent Bells') have been dead-headed to death with no basal foliage left, the daylily foliage has been cut back by half to keep it from flopping everywhere, the spring-bloomers (Aquilegia and Polemonium) are gasping, the roses are pretty leafless by now and won't throw any more flowers, the Monarda 'Mahogany' have been deadheaded into pretty bare stalks, the background shrubs (flowering almond, Weigela) are done blooming - you get the picture. I do have a couple of "mums" ('Hillside Sheffield Pink' and a plain ole white one) for fall color. Part of the problem is that the soil doesn't hold enough moisture which I'm working on with spot composting. It gets western sun exposure in the afternoon. Maybe it's just a matter of dry soil and hot sun by late summer doing in everything? Any suggestions? I'm posting a picture from late May.

Very pretty garden, Cindy. Can you add some fall colors by adding in some Neon Sedum or Autumn Joy Sedum, or add some mums or blue asters in the bare spots? I have a similar problem in our daylily bed, so I stick in some mums (some come back, some don't) and we used to have some gorgeous blue asters fill in the holes until I mistook them for weeds and pulled most of them out! arrrrrrgh.

You chose my Woods Blue Asters at the raffel.
Be good to them.

DonnieBrook - would you believe I just pulled out a big sedum? It started out as a pass-along plant 20 years ago (no named variety) but it flopped so badly as it got older and bigger (probably due to only half-day sun), smothering everything around it. I did try aster 'Hella Lacy' years ago but it died out and didn't really perform well. They tend to get pretty lanky with only half-day sun. They do better in the lower garden where there's a spot of more sun. Maybe pots are the answer. Usually they're lined up on the cement stones around the beds and by the end of summer, I've moved them into the beds to fill the holes.

JoAnn - your beautiful blue asters are now planted in a place of honor right by our front porch in the front fence garden where we can easily see them while we are having breakfast and lunch. They would have gotten lost in that stone wall garden if I had tried to use them to fill the gaps. Don't worry - they'll be well cared for!

Cindy - I have 2 clumps of sedum from dear Sofonisba that I want to put in full sun, so they will go into the new section of my Friendship Garden....quite appropriate, huh?

I love the Friendship Garden idea

Cindy, I also have a 1/2 shady area with blazing afternoon sun.
I planted fall-blooming salvias there which have done great. They're just blooming now.
I treat some of them as annuals (s. leucantha),
but they grow huge in a single season and bloom their hearts out.
Here's a pix of leucantha - it's hard to get the long blooming spike in focus.

Weerobin - I haven't grown many Salvias since I thought they'd need more sun than I can give them. I did start S. 'Purple Volcano' last year from seed and it did winter over here. I've been using it more as a border foliage plant since the flowers can get rather ugly after a couple of weeks. I also tried 'May Night' and it just sat in the garden for several years and never bloomed. Don't know what I did wrong with that one. What species do well for you in your half-sun bed besides leucantha? That is a dramatic bloom spike and would love the purple in the late summer. Do you buy plants or start seed?
DonnieBrook - What a great idea with the Friendship Garden. I have 'Hillside Sheffield Pink' that I received probably 15 years ago and I'm sentimental about that one. Those flowers in late fall really bring a smile to my face and I've shared it over the years with others.
Getting some rain finally here after a 2+ week dry spell. Have been worrying about all of the Astilbe divisions, some crisping up and losing foliage. All I can do is wait to see next spring what survived but keeping my fingers crossed.

I'd love to hear more about salvias too. Some of mine just aren't very attractive. I suspect that sun is key.

Full sun,they go nuts

Salvia Black and Blue is hardy here and blooms reliably in quite shady locations.
It suckers somewhat (not aggressively) to fill a sizable area,
so it tends to overrun any dainty nearby plants, so site accordingly.
I buy the more tender salvias as plants and use them as annuals.
Plant Delights has the nice pictures to see what you're ordering,
but you can find them cheaper at Avant Nursery, Digging Dog I think.
My salvia leucantha just gets afternoon sun.
My amateur theory is that the afternoon sun is so intense it makes up for missing early day sun?
Here's a post of Black and Blue - gets 1/2 sun at most.
It also blooms late - now thru frost.
This shot is from November last year (note the fall color in background).

Oh, I like 'Black and Blue'. I bought some for my daughter in TN and for her, it's a perennial too. I didn't think it would do well in my garden but will have to try that one. In your photo, it goes well with the fall colors. I like your amateur theory - I think that's the only reason I can grow a couple of tomatoes and actually get some fruit.

nice

Snapple - wanting to know if you indulged in the Color Flash Astilbe.
Anyone have any opinion on which Astilbe can take the most sun? Still pondering on my half-sun (afternoon) bed.

No - not yet. But I plan to order quickly. H1N1 has visited our household.

Oh gosh! Hope everyone pulls through ok.

Oh, we'll be fine, thank you. Just a lot of hacking, coughing, dripping nose, body aches, head ache, sore throat and nasty fever etc. But it's survivable. It's the fever that lays you out. I expect we'll be back at it by mid week. I'm feeling better today, obviously. Too sick to accomplish anything much but watch TV and nap. One of life's speed bumps.

Sorry about your flu Snappl
If anyone finds a suntollerant Astil let us know

I vowed I wasn't going to buy any more perennials this season but the end of the year 75% discount was too good to pass up. Got a big pot of 'Key Biscayne' for $4.00 (since I already had 'Key West') and a good sized plant of willow-leaved Amsonia for less than $3.00 (maybe for my part shade bed). There was also 'Rock and Roll' and 'Jump and Jive' but I wasn't familiar with the colors of those two. Anyone growing 'Key Biscayne'? I know it's lower growing and pale pink but that's about all I know.

Sun Tolerant Astilbe

http://www.waysidegardens.com/gardening/PD/46419/

Cough cough hack hack drip drip still have flu

WOW Purple Candles is great for me too.

Ooooooh - definitely on the "wish" list now. Snapple, make sure you get totally over the H1N1. We're thinking granddaughter in TN had it - fever, tired, extreme headache - and she seemed to recover from it but had a really bad ear infection the next week. And she's not one of those kids prone to ear problems.

Funny that - I do have an ear ache.

couhg cough hack hack drip drip throb throb :(

I have ordered the Purple Candles.

Ah - in your weakened state, you succumbed to 'Purple Candles' huh? Do hope it makes you feel better though.
Granddaughter had an ear infection in both the inner ear and the ear canal. My daughter said that there was a lot of gunk coming out of the one ear. Dr. prescribed both an oral antibiotic as well as antibiotic ear drops with a pain reliever. Do keep an eye on that.

Ear aches are tough on kids. I'm glad Mom was on top of it. I'm trying to bend my eye around to my ear.............to keep an eye on it. I might be a little loopey from the fever.

This message was edited Sep 28, 2009 9:43 PM

http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/ASLIP.html

WOW!

This message was edited Sep 28, 2009 10:00 PM

I just planted Lilliput from Bluestone.

Weerobin, love your Salvia leucantha! We had them growing in our deck planters years ago and still had blooms on Thanksgiving. Always thought their flowers looked like velvet and they were wonderful for dried flower arrangements. Your photo reminds me how much I miss them and I may just have to find some next year!

Snapple, so sorry to hear you're not feeling up to par :( Congratulations on your official retirement but what a lousy way to start - take care of yourself!

Regarding sun tolerant Astilbes, it's always been my understanding that Chinese Astilbes (Astilbe chinensis) have better sun AND drought tolerance than other species of Astilbe. I know the 'Visions' series have been promoted as sun tolerant Astilbes but my experience has been the foliage will still get crisp if they don't have enough water :(

Cindy, haven't grown 'Jump and Jive' or 'Key Biscayne' but LOVE 'Rock and Roll'! It's probably my favorite white Astilbe because it has red stems and the contrast is lovely :)

rcn - The tags for the Astilbes weren't very helpful with the flower colors at the nursery I went to. Pretty non-descriptive. Since I already have 3 different white Astilbe (2 of them were divided into a gazillion pieces), I thought I'd try going for some other color. I'm hoping the "reddish stems" will add a little more color. Now if I can only figure out where to put it.
Snapple - Are you waiting til spring for 'Lilliput'?
ge - Keep us up to speed on how 'Lilliput' grows. I really can't buy any more this year.

Probably on the Liliput. I've got 100 tulip bulbs coming soon. Too much to get into the ground and too little time. Besides, I'm still sitting here sweating. I may have to hire a local plant/landscaper guy to get me back on track for fall. There is one I can trust. He's a genius with plant material. Two years ago I unexpectedly, temporarily, wound up in a wheelchair for 3 months ( foot surgery from hell and a knee went out at the same time). This guy came in and did a fantastic job getting stuff done. Pricey, but well worth the peace of mind. Him and a buddy can get me caught up in maybe two days time. If I can get him. He's usually booked pretty tight.

Have always had great admiration for gardeners who have the perseverance to plant tulip bulbs. They don't come back reliably here (probably due to the clay) and I haven't delved into the world of species tulips which I've read to tend to come back. I still have old bulbs in the ground that throw out a leaf or two and that's about it. I keep meaning to dig those up in the spring as it's one of my pet peeves but I never seem to get around to it with all of the other spring gardening going on. Narcissus, Scilla and other little bulbs tend to do better for me. Heck, even my Hyacinths decline over time. My hat's off to you.

I can usually get 4 years out of good quality Darwin hybrids. Loose well drained soil I'm sure is the reason. I used to have some species Daffs. They do come back tirelessly. I lost them when digging out a dead Japanese maple. Kaufmanias are pretty little tulips that are tough. They bloom early and get out of the way in plenty of time for summer bedding annuals. Hyacinths are touchy here too. I have had some white ones in the back garden for over 10 yrs though. Scilla's are easy. Hybrid Daffs gow well here too, but I dug them all up and tossed them and I don't miss them. Two months of masses of dying foliage was too high a price to pay for two weeks of blooms. I might pop just a few in between some hostas someday. The expanding hosta foliage could disguise the daffodill foliage. If I was the organized energetic sort.

The bed where the tulips are going is already dug and ready. If I had to chop through heavy clay soil to plant there likley wouldn't be any tulips here at all!

ahhmen Mine are going somewhere where there isnt as much clay

Most of my daffs are in the lower garden (where they rarely get divided unless I'm digging in that particular spot) or in groundcover (ivy or wintercreeper) where I'm not going to be bothered so much by the dying foliage. I do have a few in my part-sun bed and I really have to curb my clean-up enthusiasm not to cut the foliage back too quickly. I can deal with it in exchange for the early spring flowers.
I just heard on the radio that there's a prediction for a REALLY cold winter. Oh, c--p! DH is installing door this week connecting heated garage and GH. Also going to purchase a small natural gas heater to use instead of propane heater I've used for the last 2 years. Seems like I just took down the bubble wrap and styrofoam insulation and now I'll be putting it back up.

Noooooooooooo! Boy, summer sure stopped on a dime didn't it?