- 11 June 2014
- Andrew Jordan
Astrantia Buckland
A long flowering perennial providing interest all through the summer, what’s not to like about Astrantias!
Astrantia species have become very popular in recent years, understandably so with their button-like miniature umbel flowers providing midsummer floral interest. I can’t get enough of them, with three varieties in my garden; Astrantia ‘Buckland’, Astrantia ‘Hadspen Blood’ and Astrantia major ‘Ruby Wedding’.
A very photogenic plant, which combines well with a variety of other plants including; Achillea, Astilbe, Eryngium, Foeniculum, Paeonia ‘Buckeye Belle’, Salvias and ornamental grasses such as Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ and Sesleria.
You need to get up close to appreciate the flowerhead which is made up of tiny multiple flowers held on stalks, hence its common name ‘hattie’s pincushion’.
These herbaceous perennials favour moist soil and dappled shade and are often found in woodlands. Fully hardy, their leaves start to appear in March. Glossy green, palmate leaves with serrated edges. They are also one of the longest flowering of all the herbaceous perennials, typically from late May to October.
They self-seed, so will spread in your borders.
They are readily available from most garden centres, or try specialist nurseries such as Cotswold Garden Flowers and Special Plants Nursery.