My astilbe are barely coming back this year, and some of those that have have shriveled, dried out leaves.
Any idea if there's a common mistake people make with these that I might be guilty of?
(and whether this is the appropriatre forum-- I searched and it seems astilbe related posts are split between here and the shady forum).
Why are my astilbe dying?
Hoa_rd - sorry to hear about your loss! When I've lost astilbe it's always been due to lack of water or being crowded out by other plants that grow faster. They seem to take as much water as I can give them. I've also fried a few, as even in rainy Washington we have hot, dry summers (except for this year).
Hmm . . . thanks for the response.
They're in the shade and the soil is covered by lots of leaves I never cleared out last year, so I haven't been watering them-- I'll try a little more . . .
Thanks!
Yes, that may have been the problem. Astilbe can actually be grown as a marginal plant in boggy soil. Sounds like you may have dry shade rather than moist shade. If that's the case and you still want to grow them, you can always make yourself a little soggy spot for them by digging out some soil, lining the large hole with plastic and poking small holes in it with a fork . Then fill it back with humusy soil and add water and plants. This should drain very slowly, keeping your astilbe in moist soil.
Good luck with them this year! They are so pretty - worth a little extra trouble I think.
Pixy
I think Pixydish gave you some good advice..... I lost a few as well the first couple years of trying ...... they do love the moist shade......
I have trouble keeping mine wet enough too. That is the only reason I have ever had for them dying off, other than water needs they are quite hardy.
Hmmm . . . gave 'em a good soaking a few days in a row and they look exactly the same . . .
I wonder of the soil is . . . too acidic maybe? Or maybe I overfertilized? . . .
Once the leaves have shriveled you have to be patient, may take a year to bounce back totally. Water and more water. Compost all around it - not pine bark nuggest but compost. Keep it really wet - even use a pencil to make as deep a hole as you can all around it (like every hour on a clock) and use a small funnel to put in little pinches of the water holding polymers. They really resent being moved if they're happy.
Once I followed THE Martha's advice and split my huge one in half. Must have taken three years to recover!
For any more that you plant, first dig a big hole, then good compost and water crystals and you'll be set up for success!
Hoa_rd remember also that we had one of the worst Springs on record here in the mid-west.
It's possible that caused your damage, or at least contributed to it.
That combined w/ lack of water will stress them pretty badly.
They're tough plants. If you've had success w/ them before then I wouldn't worry too much about the acidity.
For the record I never fertilize them and they have been out there for 10 years.
We have about as clay a soil as you'll find.
I top dress in the Fall w/ a bit of compost and then just let the leaf litter build up around them.
Most perennial shade plants don't like to be fertilized much anyway I've found, especially w/ high N ferts.
If they have good soil to start w/ they'll do fine for years.
Ric
Ric - we're in 100% agreement on this one. Once I heard that if you treat your plants as though they each cost $200.00 you'd be a much better gardener and I believe it.
Compost is black gold! It keeps plants damper and well nourished. We have never fed our 12 year old astilbes - not once. I've found it easier to take out pie shaped wedges with a sharp knife than splitting them in half.
People (some, not all) don't realize that we all plant a perennial once so give it the best home you can.
The astilbe is tough and like Helen Reddy sang, "I shall survive" - so will the astilbe.
Arlene
When we moved into our present house 17 years ago there was a great huge patch of old fashioned fragrant Plantains.
No one had done anything to these Hosta or the Ostrich ferns around them for over 30 years.
Buried in them were some outstanding Clematis.
All we did was give them a climbing perch.
They bloomed like crazy the next year.
We have still never fertilized that bed.
I figured if nature could do that good a job who am I to mess things up. lol
Ric
Our house was built in 1960 and the receipts for plants from the original people were handed down when the house changed hands, a few times. We bought in 1991 and there were two big clumps of the Plantaginea Hosta. I divided them and got 37 from one plant and 38 from the other. Never fertilized them and still have them. When we replanted them we did add compost. We trade them with a local nursery for his perennials and I've traded them on DG.
Amazing coincidence!
Thanks all!
Ric, in what way was this a bad spring? To hot? Too dry? Too wet? Too cold?
I really don't have a good sense I guess. I ride my bike every day all year 'round no matter what the weather, so in a way I don't notice it.
If yours was like most of the Midwest in mid March we had several weeks of temps well into the 70's and above freezing nights
A lot of plants had reacted to the warm spell and started sprouting early.
.
Then there was a long cold wet spell w/ below freezing night temps well into April.
Then w/ the cold wet spell they got severely damaged.
Plants can take cold and dry or warm and wet in Spring.
Add cold w/ below freezing and wet to young perennial growth and you get problems.
Several of our more tender perennials never made it back up after 5 years in the ground.
Most of our hardyierperennials had a very late start.
Our Astilbe are just now starting to flower.
That's about 2 weeks later than normal.
We lost a few of the dwarf varieties though.
The Hosta though just loved that weather.
They look better than I can ever remember.
Ric
Ah, yes, I remember now.
I hadn't had the impression that anything was particularly affected by the cold snap after the sprout-fest, but I suppose the astilbe could have been, seeing as thay were mostly buried under leaves and I wouldn't have noticed them sprouting. That makes me feel -much- better . . . and yes, my Hosta are BREATHTAKING . . .
I have a boatload I started from seed in feb '03 that are just coming into their big waxy thick blue ruffled heart0shaped glory-- pod parent F. Williams, Brigham Blue, Blue Mammoth, Doubloons-- plus a few others I bought one-eyed last year (Sum and Substance, Choko Nishiki, Olive Bailey Langdon). But that's a topic for another forum . . .sort of.
And now for something completely different-- my Delphinium, which should be all over the place (3rd year) are completely missing in action-- same problem, possibly? Would they be likely to sprout at the first thaw?
hoa_rd - I love Delphiniums - especially the Galahad series! I have to learn to accept the fact that they're not as hardy as I want them to be. Worse, for me, than lupines, which we adore. It's the hardest plant for me to do without. :-(
Delphiniums I have little experience w/.
We have very little sun.
In our yard at least the early more tender hybrids and cultivars got hit the worst.
The native like Mayapple and Jack-in-the-Pulpit did very well.
All our containers we had covered in packing blankets so they didn't even know about they early warming period.
Ric
I tried delphiniums for years with no success and finally figured our summers are just too hot. They never seemed to have any difficulty surviving the winter, but the best luck I had was an occasional bloom(the second year from seed) and the whole plant died just as the bloom finished. That could be the problem with yours. I'm now living in a cooler, wooded environment and planted Delphinium grandiflora 'Summer Nights' that is supposed to tolerate more heat. I got them from Bluestone perennials and planted them in April and they're budding now. It's just starting to get hot here, so we'll see.
As for astilbes, they're in heaven in this wooded environment. I had tried those without success in the past, but now have seen that organic, moisture retentive soil is the key. My pink ones are about 4'tall now and budding heavily-can't wait! I think the above suggestions would do the trick. Good luck!
Our astilbes are from 8 to 10 years old and thriving in sun due to being planted in compost. At the start we had shade in the area but the huge spruce was dying and when removed left us with full sun.
You'd be surprised at the master gardeners who have said to us on Garden Tours, "You can't grow astilbe in full sun", or words to the effect. Fools! These plants are enormous!
The key is, as Gemini said, "moisture retentive soil" = compost!
I, too, was told you can't grow astilbe in full sun, but I did so last year, with no problems whatsover. You just have to make sure they have enough water. This year, I moved it to a shaded area, and it's doing okay, but really no better than it did last year in full sun!
I am certain that either moving or dividing them makes them angry and they retaliate by looking "not so great" for a year.
Well, the ones that are OK are more OK now, but I have only about 7 or 8 plants where there should be 20 or more. I'll chalk it up to the wierd spring, make sure to add some some compost at some point, and hope for better next year.