Scientific Name: Astilbe chinensis
Common Name: Chinese astilbe
Family Name: Saxifragaceae
Origin: S.E. Asia / Japan / China
Hardiness Zone: Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Mature Size: 0.4 - 0.7m x 0.6 - 1.0m (height x width)
Habit: Stiffly upright
Form: Oval - vertical
Texture: Medium - fine
Landscape Uses: Aquatic - ponds, Cut flower or foliage, Ground cover, Group or mass planting, Mixed shrub border, Perennial border, Waterside planting, Wetland - bogs, Woodland margin
Exposure: Full sun only if soil kept moist, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil or Media: Well-drained
Leaves: Compound, Alternate, Basal, Prickly, Pubescent, Trifoliate (ternate), Elliptic, Ovate, Rhomboidal, Double serrate, Serrate
Flowers: Panicle, White, Pink, Magenta, Red, Jul-Aug
Fruit: Capsule, Brown, Aug-Sep-Oct
Key ID Features:
Leaves mostly basal from rhizome, 2-3 times pinnately compound, leaflets 3-5, ovate-elliptic-rhomboidal, most 2-8cm long x 1-4cm wide, pubescent, margins doubly serrate; panicles 8-35cm long x 3-5 (-10)cm wide, packed with numerous lilac-pinkish-purple florets, petals linear about 5mm long x 0.5-1mm wide.