What I love about perennial plants is that they require little work and give such great pleasure. Last summer I was recuperating from arm surgery and wasn’t able to plant one plant or flower; hence the empty pots on my front porch in the picture below. I was so grateful for my perennials, especially my Astilbe, which gave life to our neglected garden and brightened my spirits.
Planning for Perennial Blooms
Our garden has evolved over the years and with careful planning, we have flowering perennials that show up each month from April to October to brighten up our garden.
We were blessed to start with beautiful landscaping from the previous owner. Since we bought our home 17 years ago, we have added and made changes along the way.
What I did learn though was to carefully select plants that will give color at different times of the year.
Beautiful Astilbe
What’s not to like about Astilbe? The blooms are feathery plumes that show up in June. In April though, the plant starts to grow back and the green foliage adds color to my garden beds.
Astilbe reliably blooms year after year and no dead heading is required until the blooms have died off. After the blooms have lost their color, I cut the plumes back and leave the foliage for color and filler in the garden beds.
This lovely perennial spreads and is ideal for splitting to re-plant elsewhere in your yard or to share with friends.
Astilbe prefers part sun/shade. My front yard faces north and does not have shade per se, just morning sun, which has been ideal as they have thrived.
Astilbe comes in a variety of colors. In my front yard I have a collection of red, white and pink plants.
I like the contrast of the white astilbe against my Japanese Maple tree.
On the side of my house, I have pale pink Astilbe which looks pretty against the dark purple leaves of the ornamental tree behind it. These used to thrive more when the side yard had more shade; however, over the years, we have had to remove dead trees which completely changes the landscape.
Although I love them all, the red Astilbe are my favorite for the punch of color they give.
Ideal Time to Plant Astilbe
Both Spring and Fall are ideal times to plant your Astilbe. If you want to enjoy them yet this year, plant now for beautiful June plumes.
Additional Care for Astilbe
The only issue we have had with our Astilbe is that in late June we start to see the arrival of the Japanese Beetle which tend to feed on the plumes. My husband sprays them with Sevin and it takes care of them. Fortunately, Astilbe are deer resistant.
For more in-depth information, visit Garden.Org.
Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear from you in the comments below. Do you have some Astilbe in your yard and what is your favorite color?
Adela says
I love astilbe, too. Yours are gorgeous.
Elaine says
Thank you Adela! Astilbe gets better as it ages as they get fuller and the plumes are bigger. Can’t wait for mine to bloom again!
Karen D. Austin says
I’m ripping out all the shrubs in the front of my house because they are overgrown (25 yo house). I’m looking for ideas for relandscaping that area. Thanks for the beautiful pics and the advice. Oh, and I love your stair runner!
Elaine says
Thank you Karen! Good luck with your landscaping. It’s fun to start over with a blank canvas. I’m also a big fan of hostas in different varieties. Boxwoods are my favorite shrub. They look great all year long.
Bonnie K. Frogma says
Beautiful! Front yard fireworks. And I’m glad you reminded me about flowers – it’s time to get seeds and I want to get a cosmos going in my little garden plot at the canoe club again. My first year of gardening, I ended up with an absolute thicket of cosmos in a 4×6 space. Love the flowers but it got a bit silly. 2nd year I decided I preferred growing food (tomatoes mmm); when it turned out the cosmos had seeded itself, I pulled most of ’em, but I left one at the side of the bed for a little fall prettiness. That went on annually until Hurricane Sandy, which killed everything in the bed except for the indestructable green onions. I’ve missed the cosmos every year since then but I never remember to get new seeds!
Elaine says
Thanks Bonnie. I have never grown Cosmos but have bought them as a bouquet at our local farmers market and love them.
Bonnie K. Frogma says
They’re very tall & leggy plants! One or two over on the side of the bed work great in my little 4×6 plot, they give a lovely splash of color at interesting heights without blocking the sunlight.
En masse…well, they might be nice in a bigger garden but things got a little silly in Canarsie!
http://frogma.blogspot.com/2007/11/bringing-new-meaning-to-term-coop-board.html
Carolyn says
I am a huge fan of all the spring flowers! Hyacinth, Tulips, Lilacs and Daffodils.
So nice to see all that color after this long, cold and dreary winter!
Lydia says
This is so beautiful! I’m trying to plan out my garden so I always have blooms. I love my peonies and tulips but they’ll be gone soon. Maybe you could do a post for us one day on how you planned out your flowers for long lasting color in your yard. Just a thought! Great inspiration in your beautiful yard!
Elaine says
Thanks Lydia! With a little planning you can have color all year long. It’s on my list for a follow up post! Thanks!