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Re: [PRIMROSES] Kirengeshoma was Planting under trees was: New

In a message dated 98-01-04 21:25:04 EST, Sheila wrote:

<< I have the same problem with astilbes [have to treat them like annuals?].
I have had some success with drowning them in bone meal each fall, and
dividing them every 4 or 5 years.  But I definitely do NOT have the luxuriant
plumes one sees in the
 catalogues.  Mine are in high shade, moderate moisture, ordinary garden
 loam with sandy loam about 10" down; pH 6.9-7.2.  The plants are crowded in
 one area and well-spaced in another; the varieties are Fanal, Deutschland,
 the coral-pink one, and A. pumila chinensis.  Anybody have any suggestions?
  >>

I thought astilbes were among the toughest plants because they do fine for me.
I've heard they are heavy feeders but I don't feed my that much.  I also don't
water very much either even though I've heard they like moist conditions.   I
wonder if Astilbes like cooler summer temps. We don't often get in the 90's
and only rarely above 100.  How does this compare to Clyde's and Sheila's
area?

My oldest two (granted, only 4 years old) are  A. arendsii 'Fanal' and a pink
one that looks similar but I lost the name.  They bloom good and are good size
clumps. I also planted them before I learned to add lots of organic material
to the planting hole.  I've read to divide about every third year in spring to
maintain the most vigorous plants with maximum size flowers.  Then I have
tarquetti 'Superba'  (I'm somewhat disappointed with this one), chinensis
'Pumila' (grows into a thick mat and still blooms in almost full, dry shade),
simplicifolia 'Atrorosea' (boy, was I mislead on the color of this or else I
got the wrong plant-very dull), simplicifolia 'Sprite' (the simplicifolias
don't form thick plumes but I still like), arendsii 'Brautshieier' (too new to
tell), and another one thought to be arendsii 'Amethyst'.

It could be that mine don't look as good as they could and I just don't know
any better!

Cindy Johnson
White Bear Lake, MN
zone 4a
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