Astilbe

A fine little dwarf Astilbe native to Japan and one that has proved to be very enduring as well as endearing. This is one Sue used to grow at her old place in northern Vermont and charmed her to the point that it made the cut and followed her out west lo those many years ago. Low mounds of dense and finely cut foliage with short spikes of soft pink fluff in early summer. We grow this out in the full sun with ample water.

A choice and very dwarf form of the species in which everything is extremely miniaturized. This makes a tightly packed dumpling of dense, tiny leaves with 4" sprays of light pink flowers. Quite ideal for the damp rock garden or trough as this is an alpine form of Astilbe glaberrima endemic to the mountains of Yakushima in Japan. We were curious as to what constitutes the typical form of A. glaberrima and with a bit of noodling, were able to access online the herbarium sheet of this species from 1922 which is the holotype that was the basis for the original description of the species and we saw that it is indeed, a much larger plant. Plants are such great things to be curious about!

Dense congested foliage especially beautiful in spring as the new growth is a reddish bronze. Stout full flower spikes of a good pink stay under a foot tall. This received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticulural Society so you know its good!