Alphabetical Plant Listing

Mid-Season Astilbe Varieties For Your Garden

Mid Season Astilbes, Astilbe Bloom Times


Immensely popular, Astilbes are fabulous plants for shady, moist conditions. They light up your shade garden for weeks with their elegant flower plumes and add a dazzling splash of color in the landscape. Ranging from 6 in (15 cm) to 24 in. tall (60 cm), their feathery plumes, in shades of lavender, pink, red, or white, can be incredibly striking. They rise gracefully above attractive mounds of fern-like foliage which remains attractive all season long (under satisfactory growing conditions) before turning progressively a rich caramel color which provides winter interest to the garden.

  • Relatively trouble-free, Astilbes require little maintenance, are heavy shade tolerant, attract butterflies, but are deer and rabbit resistant! The perfect perennial for a shady border with dappled light!
  • These part shade to full shade lovers thrive in organically rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils. Easy to grow, their biggest enemy is dryness - so don't let the soil dry out!
  • Native to China, Japan, and Korea, there are about 25 species of Astilbe and hundreds of cultivars, some less than 12 in. tall (30 cm) and ideal for the front of the border or rockeries while others can easily reach 4 ft. in height (120 cm) and are better suited for the back of the border. This diversity in height makes Astilbes quite versatile, and they overachieve in providing a spectacular flower show, whether planted in perennial borders, woodlands, by streams and ponds, or in containers. Plant them in groups for better visual effects. Their flower plumes also make excellent fresh-cut flowers and can be dried in natural bouquets.
  • Astilbes bloom between late spring and late summer. They flower over a fairly long season since each flower plume consists of hundreds of densely packed tiny flowers, opening in succession. However, they do not all flower at the same time and are classified with a blooming time, ranging from Early to Late season. Therefore, to fill your garden with continuously blooming Astilbes throughout the season, you may plan to plant a variety of cultivars, from Early- to Late season bloomers.

To help you plan your late spring or summer garden and facilitate your selection of Astilbe varieties, here is a list of mid-season Astilbe cultivars. 

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 9
Climate Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A2, A3
Plant Type Perennials
Plant Family Astilbe
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun, Shade
Season of Interest Summer (Early,Mid)
Water Needs Average
Maintenance Low
Soil Type Loam
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Poorly Drained
Characteristics Dried Arrangements, Cut Flowers, Showy
Tolerance Deer, Rabbit, Wet Soil
Attracts Butterflies
Landscaping Ideas Beds and Borders, Patio and Containers, Ponds and Streams
Garden Styles Informal and Cottage
Compare All Astilbe Great Plant Combination Ideas with Astilbe Guides with Astilbe

elen1 / 123RF Stock Photo

While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 9
Climate Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A2, A3
Plant Type Perennials
Plant Family Astilbe
Exposure Full Sun, Partial Sun, Shade
Season of Interest Summer (Early,Mid)
Water Needs Average
Maintenance Low
Soil Type Loam
Soil pH Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage Poorly Drained
Characteristics Dried Arrangements, Cut Flowers, Showy
Tolerance Deer, Rabbit, Wet Soil
Attracts Butterflies
Landscaping Ideas Beds and Borders, Patio and Containers, Ponds and Streams
Garden Styles Informal and Cottage
Compare All Astilbe Great Plant Combination Ideas with Astilbe Guides with Astilbe

Find your Hardiness Zone

Find your Climate Zone

Find your Heat Zone

Join Gardenia.net

Create a membership account to save your garden designs and to view them on any device.

Becoming a contributing member of Gardenia is easy and can be done in just a few minutes. If you provide us with your name, email address and the payment of a modest $25 annual membership fee, you will become a full member, enabling you to design and save up to 25 of your garden design ideas.

Join now and start creating your dream garden!

Create a New Collection

Optional. For your reference.


Move Selected Plants to a Different Collection


Delete Collection

This field is required.

Rename Collection

This field is required.