i planted some bare root astilbe about 8 weeks ago but until now it seems that none of them have sprouted yet. i followed the planting instruction on the label: planted them about an inch deep; and always kept the soil fairly moist all the time. of course i also planted them with those white thing almost sticking out of the ground. i suppose those white thingies should be the sproutlings that would eventually leaf out but until now they didn't leaf out a single leaf bud or anything. i grew impatient last week and dug one out to see what happened and saw some new root growth but still no sproutlings and kept wondering how long i should wait.

i'm very new to gardening (a newbie who never planted plants before) and i'm really getting frustrated with my astilbes. all the others that i have planted started growing (dahlias, gladioli, calla lilies, asiatic lilies) already.

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

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.

Perennials are not like bulbs in that they don’t 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 don’t have much variety or I’d get everything from them.

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

Rino

Don't blame yourself if they fail to thrive.

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

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).

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

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!