Where did you get the plants (roots)from?

if they do not rot.. they are on their way ....

its all about soil temps.. and air temps.. and whatever it takes to trigger top growth ...

patience is the key ...

let them dry a bit between waterings to avoid rot ...

ken

Even though suitable for zones up to 9, the Nat'l Gardening Assn. says they do best in regions with cool, moist summers.

Root growth will begin immediately. Top sprouts will form within a few weeks in warm climates - 8 weeks does seem a bit excessive.

I've always had them and don't know where the originals came from. I have occasionally bought some bare root stock at a couple of the big boxes (have found over the years that it's not always a guarantee of success buying a living thing from a bona fide nursery or garden center) - they've done just fine.

All you can do is have patience. The stock from the big box stores is more likely to be dried out and will take longer to wake up. Astilbe is VERY slow growing too. You picked one of THE slowest growing perennials. I bought a box of 12 at SamÂs maybe 4 years ago. I had visions of a whole bed full of fluffy red astilbe. I planted the dried out little things and if I remember accurately it was over a month before I saw much happening. Each year since I have seen a little more growth but I ran out of patience 2 years ago and bought potted ones to fill in. At least the leaves are pretty. They did not bloom until last year, when they turned out to be lavender and not red. Mismarked. Dang. I have to decide if I want to keep them now.

Perennials are not like bulbs in that they donÂt have a big reservoir of stored energy. They have to make new roots and start getting nourishment before you will see anything.

Bare root can be fine if you are buying from a nursery that digs them up when they get an order then just ships them out bareroot. I order from one place that does that and those plants take off like gangbusters. But they donÂt have much variety or IÂd get everything from them.

I think it varies... I bought a couple of bareroot astilbe from a big box store about a month ago and planted them in pots indoors with the white parts sticking out of the dirt--just like you did--(indoors to start them because I live in Wisconsin and our last snowstorm was 2 weeks ago...) Anyway, within a couple of days, I saw leaf growth and now they're 10" - 12" tall.

That being said, if yours have new root growth, that's a good sign!

I'm also in your zone 8a Arlington TX. Did your Astilbe bloom last year or did they not? I also bought my Astilbe from Home Depot and they started to grow leaves very late, at the beginning of Summer. They now do not really look like they are going to bloom at all and it is the beginning of August. Did you keep your plants this year and are they about to bloom?

Rino

I also bought a few roots from the box store about 8 weeks
ago, April/2011; nothing coming up yet. I prepped the soil with bone meal before planting the roots and keeping them moist in a shady area. And I purchased three potted astilbes, and prepped the spot with bone meal where I was going to plant them. Two did well for a few weeks, and the leaves looked like they were burnt and the blossoms dried up. Maybe I over fertizied them at the beginning?
The other potted astilbe is okay, starting to show brown
edges on the leaves though. These little guys don't seem to
be as easy to grow as led to believe! And Northern Nevada
is having a long spring with cool temps during the night and day this year. Any suggestions from the audience?
Reynolds

The problem with the boxed perennials at big box stores is that many have sat for months. Perennials aren't bulbs that have a dormant state that is convenient for packaging. They don't really appreciate being bare rooted and shoved into a package. While cheap; many don't survive or are mis-labeled...

Don't blame yourself if they fail to thrive.

OK...I planted 24 bare root astilbes back in middle spring time. They exploded in growth...dark green with the tops shooting up fast. They are still rich in color. Now with the heat, I noticed that some of the branches are dying on two of them. Yet, the rest of the plant is doing fine. Is this because the roots are not big enough yet for the whole plant, or what? they are in about 80% shade, which I believe that I need in the upstate of SC...because it can get very warm in the summer months.

If anyone has any great ideas, I would love to hear them.

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).
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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
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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!