White astilbe

What is your favorite white astilbe.

Actually I like the color white better than any other for astilbe as it seems to make the astilbe stand out so well in a shady area.

In our garden we have "Ellie". Here it is from a few years ago as a young plant:

rouge21,

My thoughts were the same about white in the shady part of the garden. Thanks for the heads up on Ellie. I am reading that it is one of the best because it fades to green instead of brown. It may be the one I try. I have never had one before and intend to have one this season.

Lily

UPDATE:

lilygardner, in our area it has been a cooler and very wet spring and so our Astilbe have done so well. Here is our "Ellie" as of today. (Were you able to plant one this spring?)


This message was edited Jul 2, 2015 2:52 PM

I also like white flowers in the shade, in fact if I could have a totally green and white garden of native plants I would be thrilled.
Your new photo of the astilbe and the green and white leaves behind it looks beautiful and fresh.
Nice textural shapes of the surrounding plants also.

Thanks for the encouragement semperviren.

I do like the garden but as you can see it is..."action packed" ;). There are so many plants (too) close together. It was even more so until I cut back significantly the now finished very large "Bleeding Heart".

Semperviren, have you tried dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius)? It is similar in appearance and cultivation to an astilbe, but the foliage is more delicate looking and I find them a bit more forgiving when I forget to water. The white flowers do fade to tan, not green.

rouge21, Your garden is full but the different plants and textures are distinct and have a good presence.

fernfarmer, The dwarf goatsbeard is lovely. I wish it wasn't an Asian import, Korean I think.
Although I have many non native plants in my garden and others that are native to the southeast, not locally, I made myself a promise to only buy native now.
Too bad, it would look well between the swirling leaves of the maidenhair fern and blue green oval leaves, that remind me of a school of fishes, of merrybells.
I'll have to think this one over again.

I do have a large native goatsbeard but it is in the "rain garden" which is now sunny due to a tree removal. But it does well and blooms next to and at the exact time as the native rosa virginiana blooms pink under the white blooms (it even has white berries but the birds eat them immediately it seems), of the red twigged dogwood that is taller at 10' and shades the goatsbeard.
White and pink and red twigs.
But that's in the sun.

Has anyone ever tried growing the astilbe from seeds? I have always bought the plants but was wanting to try them from seeds. Just wondering if anyone had done this. Thanks, Kathy

I have Deutschland and Bridal Veil. Both are pure white. I love them both but Deutschland is a little more full. Both require a good amount of water. Someday I will invest in automatic sprinklers. Blooms faded now but next year I will post a pic

I am so happy to have found this forum. I planned an absolutely gorgeous sun garden for the front of my house (north facing) in August/Sept., and for a former member of a Wicca group to forget about the autumnal equinox seems impossible, but forget I did. Ooooops, the sun moved and now I have an unplanned, impromptu shade garden out there - until spring. Its either full sun or full shade and I have to have two completely different gardens for the same space. The only astilbe I've ever seen is my neighbor's - 4-5 years in four inches of soil in the bottom of a big pot, never refreshed, never pruned or cut back, never - well, you get the picture, and she complained it wasn't performing until I pointed out to her that it was sitting in full sun... Anyway, I love the pictures of that white astilbe - it gives me hope and determination - I will have that stuff, its just beautiful! I'm in Huntington Beach, CA (USDA Zone 10, Sunset Zone 24) - anybody know when they are available? Probably spring, right? I always buy the 4"ers when I've never had experience with a plant - I can't wait. Thanks for this thread. Syb

Astilbes are generally available at nurseries in mid-summer as they are coming into bloom, but I think the reason you haven't seen them before is because it is too warm and too dry to grow them where you live. Most of them will not thrive above Zone 8. Plus, astilbes require a lot of water, particularly when grown in summer sun (even up here in PNW where I live). Given the drought and warm weather there, you may want to reconsider. A good independent nursery will be able to help you pick appropriate plants for your site. There are also California and Southwest gardening discussion forums here at Dave's that might be helpful to you.

Fernfarmer, you sent me on a search for info. I have located several lovely containers blooming crazily with several varities of astilbe, and can order all I want through any of the local nurseries. Thanks for your reply, without that I may not have done my ressearch. Since I only garden in containers, it will probably work. We have had so much heat and high humidity that everything is blooming like its spring. For about three weeks most of us did not even water. Syb