Didn't expect that she did have a greenhouse, Ken. Winter growing in my latitude doesn't provide the optimal conditions that many annuals need but New Guineas tolerate it well, and that means even though most people think of them as bedding plants only, they can be pretty successful grown as houseplants, certainly easier than the garden variety-busy Lizzie. You direct her to the houseplant forum saying you might be wrong, but have an issue when I comment on them, even though I've grown thousands of them over several decades? ;-) You are correct in saying not to get too attached to it, because they're not expensive, and to keep them beautiful inside requires a learning curve. I'd say worth a try. You don't need high humidity, just don't put them in a furnace draft where they'll get heater scrub. They'll protest if they're underwatered, and they'll protest if they're overwatered, and if the light level isn't high enough, you won't get bloom. But no more difficult than some other persnickety houseplants. This post was edited by calliope on Fri, Sep 12, 14 at 2:33

Did you even read what I wrote in my first reply? I'll post it again just in case you didn't. 'Glut' doesn't puff out like the one in the post above, but the color is so intense, it really doesn't matter IMO. Different hybrid Astilbe have different parentage, so you can't expect all the flowers to look the same. Mine is in full sun, so what you see is what you get. Kevin

Wow - I get to answer three of you at once! I wait until the astilbe flower heads are completely dry, towards the end of August/early September. I cut the entire stems below the flowers and place them upside down in a paper bag. I clip the bag to a shelf unit inside my garage and leave the bag open so they can finish drying. After a month or so I crush the dried flower stalks. The seeds are, as one of you said, as tiny as dust motes. When it comes time to sow them, I just sow seeds, chaff & all. I winter sow the seeds and am growing some healthy-looking seedlings at the moment. The seeds don't need cold stratification according to my notes but Swallowtail Garden Seeds website says if they don't germinate after 4-5 weeks at 65-70 degrees, put them in the refrigerator for 4 weeks, then set them out in 65-70 degree temps again. Winter sowing is much less complicated than that--just sow the seeds/chaff in recycled containers, stick the containers out in the snow and ignore them until spring. From my observations, astilbe (like many shade lovers) grows very s-l-o-w-l-y from seed and won't bloom until it reaches maturity so division is the best way to get mature plants that will bloom a year or two after being divided.

Texas-Bluebonnet.I had them growing all over my property for about 3 years from the highway department planting them in the median.They are so pretty.