With its rich fern - like leafage and brightly colorize blooms in shades of lavender , blanched , burgundy , Salmon River , red and purpleness , astilbe adds an old - fashioned forest charm to the landscape painting . Because it is a repeated flower , astilbe has blossom that disappear with the first winter frost and do n’t re-emerge until leap . However , astilbe bring itself to air - drying , and it is n’t difficult to preserve a few of its feathery plumes for year - round enjoyment in dried flower transcription , pastiche or wreaths .
Step 1
Harvest astilbe blush and stems during the warm part of the day . Harvesting astilbe during moist conditions or on dewy mornings will make drying the blooms more hard . didder the astilbe lightly to hit debris and debris .
Step 2
Loosely gather six to eight astilbe together in a bunch , and secure the base ends with a rubber circle . flow the astilbe upside down from a coat hanger , nail or conducting wire draw , and put them in a affectionate , airy , dark way to dry out .
Step 3
Check the astilbe every few days . When the astilbe is dry , the stems and blooms will be brittle . Drying can take three to six weeks , depending on the humidity and temperature in the room .
Step 4
Store the dried astilbe vertical in a vase . Or , if they are n’t in the way , leave them fall upside down until you ’re ready to use them . you may also salt away dried astilbe in a cardboard box line with tissue newspaper . Do n’t put in dry out astilbe in plastic , as this cloth lend itself to moisture , which can destruct astilbe .
Plant Astilbe
Astilbe revel meek weather and a moist dirt environment . Soil should drain well and be consistently damp for the best growth potential . The overweening heat of summer makes successful planting hard at that time of year ; results may be better if you wait until spill to plant an astilbe division in the garden bed . While still conforming to the partial shade convention , you’re able to let the astilbe to have a bite more sun in a different garden location so that it can imbue in enough light for tooth root establishment over the winter . The dear planting time for seeds is in spring ; you could germinate and develop the seedlings in an indoor greenhouse before planting outdoors . Spring and fall heat waves can bust up mayhem on sensitive seedling . As a root , plant the astilbe near tree and tall shrub to provide needed shade .
