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Add Texture
To Your Shady Yard By Planting This Beautiful Flower
By NICK POLISHCHUK
Thanks to this herbaceous perennials’ delicate, cotton candy-esque appearance, astilbes are perfect for adding texture to a yard that doesn’t receive a lot of sunlight.
Most astilbes bloom in late spring and early summer, then die down as cooler temperatures set in. Their tight clusters of miniature flowers can be red, pink, purple, or white.
Astilbes vary in height, from half a foot to 4 feet, depending on the variety, and you can remove the stalks bearing dead blooms and leave the still-lush foliage as ground cover.
Or you can let the stems dry out to furnish the garden with winter interest. Either way, astilbes will return in the spring and adorn the yard for another summer blooming season.
Keep in mind that these fuzzy perennials aren't fond of the sun. An area with too much direct sunlight will damage their leaves, so plant them in a location that gets ample shade.