wieslaw59 is right about them needing water--all mine did great last year with the constant rain we had. The year before was a different story--not a drop of rain fell from May to October and they were pretty crispy and ugly-looking most of the season. I watered them daily but it wasn't the constant moisture they require. That said, they all came back again despite the drought. I wouldn't be without them and have red, white, lavender and pink varieties. My two favorites are A. chinensis and A. pumila. I have quite a few other named varieties but, while lovely, they don't have the impact of the two I mentioned. I don't think there are any red cultivars that lean toward the colors you wanted to avoid. The red ones tend to be Christmas red to my eyes. Red Sentinel is medium height at 24" while White Gloria is taller at 2-3 ft. Bridal Veil is another tall one at 28".

Astilbe goes dormant if dry thus the brown branches, but doesn't mean the plant is dead. In August 2010 I bought five 2 gallon pots with brown & dry Visions of Pink for $1 each at Lowe's with the hope that they'd just gone dormant because of drought at the store. I watered them well for a week then transplanted in a lasagna bed with lots of rich compost. They still looked dead. In spring new shoots formed & I removed the spent stems. Last year's bloom show was great with the 5 plants producing numerous stems each. I planted in 2 staggered rows with 3 in the back & 2 in the front. A photo showing the blooms just beginning to open mid July last summer (middle right). I removed 2 of them in early spring and divided one of them for 3 plants in the entrance garden at our camp. The plants look just like the ones in my backyard even in the less rich soil. I plan to spread rabbit manure mulch this fall to ensure nice blooms next summer. U have done that for my other astilbe. Pics from summer 2011 - Astilbe Cattleya planted spring 2009 1 gallon pot divided into 2 halves Besides being full of pink selections (my favorite color) I love that astilbe blooms can be dried as everlastings when picked before the blooms fully open. I have had a lovely bouquet of astilbe, chives, ornamental oregano, & Lunaria money plant on my computer desk since last summer!

Hi there, I realize this is an old thread, but I will post anyway. Plants I grow: OUTDOORS: Sedum (a green version? flowering now) Bunches of Rosy Sedum (also in flower) Dayliles Petunias in a pot Marigols Alyssum Herb bucket: Sweet basil, dill, oregeno, and chives. Also am adding some rosemary from seed very soon to another container with more dill possibly. INDOORS: I included pot size to give an idea of how big each plant is Aloe vera (8") Moses in the Cradle (6") Lithops (3") Spider plants (8" & 6") Heart-leaf philodendrons (4.5 - 5") Parlor palm (3") Norfolk Island pine (5") Ficus microcarpa (miniature)(3" pot, square shaped and tall) African Violets (3" & 6") plus 2 baby plants from leaf cuttings (3") Peace Lily (6") Snake plants (6" and 4" pots) English Ivy (6") A columnar cactus of unknown species (6") a variety of Old Man cactus?? along with an orange haired spikeless cactus, and a spikey pilosocereus (all in a 3") Warneckii dracaena (4") Jade plant (3") Janet Craig dracaena (5") Hawaiian Pothos (Marbled), 8" Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Flaming Katy) 3" Brazil philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum) 4.5" Lucky Bamboo plants (Dracaena sanderiana) 3" pots False aralia (4") Also - growing some Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) indoors(6") I think I may plant the silver variety outside soon =)

Ok I think I have an updated list .. if I have missed anything let me know .. or I will forget to bring it :o0 So far my list is the following 1 small butterfly bush seedling - mauve - Laine2 1 Black Knight butterfly bush - Syd 1 ROS seedling - single mauve with red center - Mutts_fan 1 ROS seedling - single white with red center - laine2 1 tiny ROS seedling - white with red center 1 Fairly large Lantana - Wildflower2 Several small Lantana - Syd x2 - Mutts fan Tropical Hibiscus Cuttings - Double yellow - Ceraholt - Single red Several Robert Kemp Cannas Salvia - Purple Rain Several Jacob's Ladder seedlings - Marcia 1 yellow hardy hibiscus seedling Large leaf hosta solid green leaves Verigated hosta Cranesbill Geranium - Lots - Marcia Lamium Unrooted cuttings Brugmansia cuttings - types to be determined after flowering :o) ROS cuttings (Lots) - unrooted - double mauve - Ceraholt - Nicole - double white - Ceraholt - Nicole Tropical Hibiscus - Red Hot Variety of seeds. Variety of gardening magazines Getting Laine2 - ligularia mutts_fan - Siloam Plum tree daylily Marcia - periwinkle & Stonecrop "DragonÂs Blood" Ceraholt - yucca / bamboo / Syd - canna