Why I Oughta...

Last Fall, I decided to dig-up, divide and transplant four Fanal Astilbes that had been in our garden since 2020 .  They had four growing seasons under their belt and based on what I was reading, as like most other perennials, Astilbes can be divided every three-or-so-years.  But, I also know that they're finicky.  Some gardeners talk about how they can't get them to grow.  I've had (*knock wood*) pretty good luck (so far).  And, it seems that luck has extended to (at least) this Spring.   Of the four that I divided and transplanted last Fall, all four parent plants (left on the southside) and the four new divisions (planted on the north side as part of the " Hosta Replacement Project ") are back this Spring.  How lovely.   Below is a photo showing the four planted in the understory bed - on the northside.  Their first Spring where they are showing off their young, purple foliage.    I'll plan on watering these in plenty this Summer as I know they're a lit

Back in Spring of 2021, I planted some new (to me) bareroot purple Astilbes from Longfield Gardens after bringing them home from Costco - sort-of...on a whim.  Where I put them (on the northside, under the large flowering pear) ended up being too crowded.  Which lead me to attempting to dig some of them out and transplanting them last Fall .  I dug out three of them and tucked them in behind the red-bloomed Fanal Astilbes on the southside.  My thinking (then) was that if the Fanal Astilbes were happy here (and...from what I understand, Astilbes have a reputation for being finicky and hard to get established), the purple ones would like it over there, too.   I pretty much forgot about them as the foliage is pretty similar to the Fanal variety, so before they bloomed, they all.looked.the.same. In the photo below, you can see the three Gloria Purpureas that are purple in color.   The Fanal blooms are spent, but the purple blooms are just getting started.  A nice sort-of sequential bloomi

At what point can you consider a perennial 'established'?   There are tons of posts out there on the Web that talk about this very topic - what it means to be well-established ?   It appears that there's no clear-cut answer as every plant in every garden has a different timeline.   One of the colonies of perennials that I've been watching closely is also one of the colonies that was amongst the very first that we put in:  A dozen or so Fanal Astilbes .  They went in back in early Summer 2020 and came with a reputation for being finicky and wanting things like moist soil.    I posted in June 2020 and when I look back , I'm surprised by how far they've moved - I dug them up and transplanted them - over the years.   But, how are they doing in June 2023 - their fourth growing season?  Seemingly....they are 'established'.  See below for a photo showing the red flower stems that have emerged from the green foliage in the south beds: They're a really strong

Last Spring (March 2021), I planted some bare root Astilbes from Longfield Gardens that Nat picked up at Costco in the backyard .  They were Gloria purpurea variety and were billed as having purple flowers.  I checked in on them this Summer when I noted that they were pretty crowded in a spot between the trunk of a tree and some hostas.  I mentioned then that I wanted to transplant these this Fall.   Well...Fall isn't REALLY here, but in my garden, I'm doing some of my Fall tasks, including transplanting and dividing.   On a recent, rainy evening, I went out and dug the three Astilbes up and transplanted them over into the second row of my OTHER Astilbes.  Here, below, is what the area looks like with the three new ones planted: It isn't PLAINLY obvious where the three transplants are located, so I've included (below) an annotated photo that I can reference next season when I start scanning the mulch layer for tips of new growth to emerge in Spring.  Here's where

Last year, I planted a series of bareroot astilbes - Gloria purpurea - in our backyard around the base of one of the flowering pear trees.  I stuck them there without much thought and early enough in the growing season that not everything *around* them had grown in just yet.  At the time, it looks like I planted six bareroot plants .   I was out in the garden recently and had a look at these.  See below for a photo showing this little slice of the bed: By my count, I see THREE Astilbes that have made it.  As I think back, I'm *pretty sure* that I recall that some of the bareroot starts were small, so I tucked more than one in the hole.  Perhaps I doubled all of them up and ended up with just three? Whatever the case, I'm now seeing these crammed in amongst the tree trunk and a trio of hostas. Which, leads me to think I need to do something here:  transplant these astilbes to a different location. They need a bit of room to spread out. But, where?  The little slice of Japanese-

Just yesterday, I shared a photo showing a six-week update on some bare root hostas that we picked up at Costco this Spring.  On that same shopping trip, we bought some bare root Astilbe plants - these Gloria Purpurea purple varieties that I planted underneath the larger Chanticleer Pear Tree in our backyard.   I arranged them around the trunk of the tree and hoped for the best.   Here, below, is how they look now - with (by my count) four bare root plantings up with green leaves and the two on the right side showing off their first flowers.  The package said there were six, but I'm not sure if I planted them in five groups or six.  I believe there should be one - that hasn't come up - to the left of the tree trunk. Seeing them packed in with a hosta in front and a hosta in back makes me realize that there is too much going on in this little area and I'm thinking that I need to remove both of those hostas and transplant them somewhere else to allow for these Astilbes to b

A year ago, I planted twelve Fanal Astilbes in the backyard - in the south bed - according to the placement spec'd by our landscape plan.  They suffered some transplant shock and had a tough go of it for the first month or so.   I baby'd them for the rest of the Summer in hopes that they'd come back this Spring.  By April of 2021, I was starting to see them come back and emerge from their dormancy .  I knew that I planted these in the wrong spot, so when I expanded the new backyard beds, all twelve of these needed to be transplanted out closer to the border in May of this year .  I've been watering this area in pretty good this Summer because there are a series of things that have been transplanted (these + the Oakleaf Hydrangeas) and some new items ( Butterscotch Amsonia that I planted in May, too ). And, all that watering has paid off with these Fanal Astilbes as many of them have come up big and bold with red flowers and quite a bit of foliage.  See the photos below