Astilbe International

I let a stand of pink 'sprite' astilbes dry out while I went on vacation. They need lots of water, and will brown out badly in a dry spell. They are also heavy feeders, and require consistent nutrition in order to bloom well.

I didn't know this when I planted my first patch of sprites, and after the first year's flowers, I thought they were dead. They certainly looked like compost to me, but I wasn't SURE they were gone for good. By trusting my own ignorance, I didn't pitch them out. I moved them to another part of the garden, and forgot all about them.

I'm the Queen of Quick Forgetfulness. I must have read something about these plants, but I couldn't remember what it was! Amazing. Fortunately, my repeated reading about gardening matters has improved my memory regarding green things.
(I still can't go to the grocery store without a precise list.. if it says 'milk'--- what kind? two percent? skim? evaporated?)

The pink astilbes did indeed return, greening out early enough in the season for me to remember I had stuck them in back behind a camellia. I had to get a phototgraph from the previous spring to remember what they had looked like! Egad! I dragged out my copy of "Perennials For American Gardens", looked up astilbes, and read up on them. I had no idea how diverse their bloom times are, and that there are so many colors available.

I wish I could say "this is a photo of my garden", but it's not. It comes from
'Fleur Plantes Jardin'a French web site which touts this grouping as 'americaine.' Heuchera lines the front of this border. It makes a nice color and texture statement, n'est ce pas?

Astilbe are members of the saxifrage family, and are native to Japan and China. However, their introduction to American gardens came from a German plant collector, Georg Arends, during the early part of the twentieth century. Now you know why "Arendesii" follows the scientific name of so many astilbe species. Other cultivars were named after his friends and family.

Arends hybridized almost all cultivars on the market today, and turned this exotic hot-house specimen into a widely popular garden favorite. His grand-daughter,
Anja Arends Mausbach, operates his nursery in Rondsdorf, Germany today. She holds workshops there for guests, on a regular basis. If you will be in her neighborhood anytime soon, the address is:

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