I am working on my landscape bed in the back and it definitely needs some white astilbe, for both the spiky form and the color for brightness. I have some Deutchland in the front bed that is thriving - gorgeous this year. I'll post a pic another day. Question - can I divide and transplant this fall? Or wait until spring? Or don't do it at all - just buy new plants? I hate to ruin my beautiful plants but maybe this astilbe benefits from division. Thanks for the advice.
Dividing Astilbe Deutschland
In my experience, Astilbe do great with dividing. If you can hold off until fall, that would be best but I've also done it in summer with some extra watering. Astilbe do like their fertilizer but use a more natural one that will give some sustained feeding. I have both 'Deutchland' and 'Bridal Veil' planted in the same bed. One blooms about two weeks before the other so I get a little more continuous bloom. Strictly an accidental positive result. Foliage color is slightly different too.
Thanks CindyMzone5. I'll divide them in fall. I don't want to risk them dying from stress in the heat. I have Bridal Veil but it's not as lush as the Deutchland. I could try the combination that you have.
I agree with you that one is more lush than the other but I bought them both at the same time and can't remember which is which. There's another hybrid called 'White Wings' which is more compact and has darker foliage. It would make a great front-of-the-border planting. Here, it blooms a little later but it's in more shade. I bought it after seeing it grown in a pot (although it didn't seem to grow as well as it should have) and a report of reblooming (although that might just be the little spires that form further down the plant if dead-headed). They all work well to lighten up a shady spot - they're in my "white" garden bed.