The differences are fascinating. It definitely sounds like morning sun is a key factor.

I only have the one, a bronze leaf rodgersia. It's about ten years old and planted under a hawthorn tree. This year it bloomed for the first time ever, at least I think so, the blooms are sort of hidden - they don't extend past the height of the leaves. I'm sure glad the foliage more than makes up for the sparse blooms.

Those really do look happy, and I love those healthy looking leaves. In your picture the shaded ones seem to show up well, and they look nearly as thick as the ones out front. Did you buy all the plants or are they divisions? Just curious since I always thought of these as one of those fussy plants that always looks better in European garden books than in real life... Not that Europeans aren't real, lol
On the side of your house is that the goats beard? Doesn't look too shabby either!
I hope a few more people chime in on some of the newer, darker foliage sorts. I seem to remember them mentioned here a few times last summer.

Mine usually bloom - not a lot of flowers, but they are HUGE so one or two make a big impact. Roger got morning sun as does his replacement, my other clump on the west side of the house gets evening sun and blooms nicely. Mine have a lovely fragrance, too, if I stick my nose in them - my beloved Roger threw his blooms right at nose level right outside the patio door. I miss him...

All my rodgersias are Rodgersia aesculifolia. R. pinnata are easier to find around here but I like the leaf size and shape of the R. aesculifolia better. All of mine were purchased - i.e. not divisions of a starter plant(s).

I find them to be easy plants to grow - seem very adaptable to less-than-ideal conditions. This picture is of the ones under the pines that we had to move last summer to make way for the boxwood in the 'golden path' area:
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mxk3 - I have never checked the flowers for scent.... will have to do that tomorrow!

kato - that's a dwarf Korean goatsbeard - pretty, but seeds like mad if you don't deadhead promptly!

mxk3 - I make a point of sniffing the driveway rodgersia flowers today - they do indeed have a very pleasant scent! Too bad they don't broadcast it a bit more....

This one gets some morning sun and late afternoon sun. It's a much more pink bloom at first, but stays a pinkish-brown for a long time.

I've had this one for many years. It's in increasing shade, and usually blooms, but I've had it skip years. It almost seems that there's a weather factor in addition to sun and soil.

I'd say I usually have a few more blooms than I got this year.

The blooms are older and more brown, and especially hard to see in the light right now...just ran out and took a quick shot with my phone.

I have one more that's a very tall one, new last year, and in a ton of shade. It bloomed great.

Is the first one a R. pinnata? Rodgersias are such great plants, aren't they?! Your garden looks lovely - show me/us more...?

Yes, I really love the rodgersia. I'm still very jealous :-) of your astilboides, though, Woody. When I bought my first rodgersia, I think astilboides was called rodgersia tabularis, and that's what I thought I was getting.

I don't remember which one the pink flowered rodgersia is. Maybe this picture will help.

Yes, astilboides used to be considered a Rodgersia I gather. Why don't you get one? They need lots of water in my experience but that is easily provided by siting them near the discharge point of a downspout - that's where my big ones are located. The ones I have elsewhere in the garden are wimpy, small things in comparison.

I've just been Googling around trying to find out what the differences are between the various Rodgersia species. I haven't found one site that clearly sorts it all out but I gather pink or red flowers do not happen on R. aesculifolia but are the color for R. pinnata. Also, the leaflet arrangement in the picture you just posted is definitely pinnate more than palmate.

Interesting searching for info - there are 5 species: R. aesculifolia; R. pinnata; R. podophylla; R. henrici; and R. sambucifolia. I'd never heard of some of those! Now I want to try them all....! :-)

Also in searching around I found lots of references to one of the problems that happens with my front porch Rodgersias - namely that by August they are usually suffering from leaf scorch - too much sun and not enough water....! So, morning sun, but not too much; and don't forget (like we do!) to keep them well watered if they are in sun.

Well, there's the problem. I've already bought one (astilboides) and killed it. Did it again; killed it again. Then went three for three.

I've over-fertilized, given it too much sun, but finally thought I found a nice shady, very moist spot. I guess it was too wet at times this spring. Last plant is now dead.

If I ever find a nice-sized one, I'd likely try again, just because I really do love its look. But for now, I'll stick with the rodgersias, which I really do love too, and admire the pictures of your awesome astilboides!

I struggle with ID'ing them as well. My third one is very large with flowers that come up to my chin (and I'm 5'6"). I just bought it last year and it had four or five flower stalks in lots of shade. It's in a spot where I can't get a good picture from ground level, so I took this looking down from the deck.

All three of my plants have very different foliage from each other, and very different blooms, so not sure if they're three different types, or just seedling variations.

I also killed an astilboides.but I have to get another and try again I just adore that plant. You can't beat morning sun...(for everything)!

Ruth - the leaves in last picture you posted makes me wonder if it's a R. podophylla since those one's leaves are supposed to have 'shallow lobes towards the tips' and the leaves in the picture you posted look somewhat like that, although most images of R. podophylla show quite definite lobes compared to those in your picture. But the flower panicles are supposed to be relatively short - 1' or so - so that doesn't match your description of tall flowers! However, I've also found places saying 3' flowers... I wonder whether the difference is due to measuring the whole flowerstalk vs measuring just the flowering portion? One reference I found said there was a lot of natural hybridizing between the species, so perhaps you've got a mixed one..... I'm now on the hunt for a R. podophylla!

I can't imagine that conditions were too wet this spring for your astilboides. The first ones I ever saw were growing at the edge of an irrigation pond at a nearby nursery. They were in full sun so obviously needed the water. They were enormous! Perhaps though, the harsh winter cold that froze the ground deeper than normal combined with wet and shade to overwhelm them this year. Mine came through the winter fine, although they were slower than usual to emerge. Mine get water from one of our downspouts, as well as from a downspout on the neighbour to the north's house. Snails do munch on the leaves at times, so perhaps the snails got yours....? Here, the plants get shade until about 2:00 in the afternoon when they get a couple of hours of sun before they go back into dense shade from the house. shadyplace - I'm sure, in your zone, they'd need that morning sun instead.

Woody - I bought the pink-blooming one and the one with the more lobed leaves at the same place. At the time I bought the pink-blooming one, they sold both aesculifolia and pinnata 'Fireworks' (looking at an old catalog). I'm guessing mine might be the latter.

Last year (when I bought the bottom one, I see that they only sold aesculifolia. So that must be it. When I look at Google images of aesculifolia, there are a few that look like it, although most don't.

I thought the astilboides would love its new home. I'm really not sure what happened, but will keep my eyes open for one.

Here is a link that might be useful: called aesculifolia and looks like mine

Ruth - the picture in the link you gave looks like the R. podophylla in the Missouri Botanical Garden link below. See the RHS picture of R. aesculifolia at:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/15918/Rodgersia-aesculifolia/Details

to see that it doesn't have those extra lobes at the ends of the leaflets like the R. podophylla does. I like the look of that extra lobe detail, which is why I'm now looking for one! (I see it listed in the catalog of the same nursery that had the huge Astilboides by the irrigation pond - I'll have to go check it out someday soon....!) The R. podophylla is also supposed to be bronze in the spring while R. aesculifolia is green (although, for mine, the initial shoots emerging from the ground are browinsh but they unfurl to green right away). Are the leaves on yours green or bronze in spring?

Here is a link that might be useful: R. podophylla