Hey, what a haul! I wish they would put plants down here on clearance tables, but nooooo - the things will be hanging on by a thread and they still want full price for them. Maybe it's just NYC ....

Love those plants. WSed some this year, but no luck; my existing plant didn't flower too much this year, either. I'm going to try sowing some more.

PV

PV,
I find that the garden centers are not marking down as much as they used to and some are only carrying a minimal amount of supplies and plants to make sure they get sold. My favourite box store one did that this year. Luckily I knew the manager and she was able to set aside an orange Northern Lights Azalea I wanted.

How old is your existing plant? It might need to be divided. My experience is that when they get to the three or four year stage, if they are not divided then they start to pout and won't flower as much. You might try that. :O)

Yes, I did read that. My plant is 4 this year. There are a lot of things up here that need to be divided, but I have this fear about doing it. First, I'm afraid that I don't know what I'm doing and I'll end up killing them; and second, if I don't have room for what's already up here, what am I going to do with divisions?? LOL!

But I'll have to read up and give it a shot -

PV

In case you miss it my post, I asked how you go about rooting clematis. Is there some particular way I have to cut them? I'd appreciate any tips ...

PV

Yes! What an astible garden you must have now!!!

My WS astible was a miss. I got one. Lol. It makes a person wonder, why one??? How can one out of all those seeds do something???

Evonne,

I had an early germinater in my seeds of a deep purple Astilbe and then nothing. I kept the containers and today I saw that there were actually 9 plants. They are sporadic sometimes and other times they will all pop-up at the same time.

Just want to reassure you, PV, that Astilbe is really easy to divide; I've done about 5 this summer. One was really huge and overgrow and I ended up making some cuts that seemed ragged and I thought the pieces would have problems where I moved them and they are all FINE. Lots of water seems to be key after transplanting.

PV,

Nan is right. I had to split some Astilbes for a plant sale. My four year olds were quite big. I was surprised to see how woody some of the bases were and with some I had to use a knife to cut through, but they never skipped a beat. :O)

It sounds like astible are tricky little things to grow from seeds. I did plant my one, and put the dirt that might contain the rest of the seeds around it. For the rest of the astible garden I purchased roots. They are coming up nicely too!

I was under the impression that, besides splitting, the astible also seed over. Is that your experience?

OK! So I just pop it out of the pot and cut it in pieces, right? Will do! The one I have has peachy colored flowers; I really want a couple more of them, but some different colors, like red!

Visions of astilbes dancing in my head!

PV

Evonne,

I have some which reseed like crazy in the gardens. They are very short and have light purple blooms on them late in the season. A bit of a pest, but I like it. It's Chinensis. Others, such as the Arendsiis and the Ericas don't reseed so willingly but with winter sowing I've had great success.

PV,
Just make sure you have root pieces with each division and keep moist for the next while. They'll be fine.

I've been wanting some reds too. I have some which are ready to bloom which were winter sown and am just waiting to see the color. I've tried to get reds via winter sowing for a few years now, but all seeds come from cross-pollinated gardens so I get beautiful pinks. Hope I'm lucky this year. I did buy a red Erica earlier this year. It's getting ready to bloom too. :O)

Great find! It never hurts to take a look around the garden center, does it? :)

Last year, I found a few great deals at the end of summer. I will be on the lookout this year for bargains as well.

Wow, quite a haul! Astilbe is fast becoming one of my favorites. I only wish I had better luck with winter sowing them.

Joanne