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Astilba Color Flash is a medium sized shrub very popular in landscaping. The secret of its success lies in the unique feature of the plant to change its color several times during the season. A variety of astilbe varieties of Color Flash Lime can do this three times: the foliage before budding, after it, and at the end of flowering looks completely different. Caring for the culture is simple, even a novice gardener can handle it.
Description Astilba Color Flash
Astilba Color Flash is a perennial shrub up to 60 cm high and about 40 cm in diameter. Round stems, up to 8 mm thick, are strong and do not need props. The sprawling culture is moderate, but the bush grows well in width.
The leaves are five-lobed, 8 by 10 cm in size, with small notches along the perimeter. They have a glossy finish and pubescence.
The classic Chinese astilba Color Flash has purple-green leaves.
The color of the culture changes during the season. In early spring, the color of the foliage is green, changing to purple during the flowering period. In early autumn, another change in shade is observed – it becomes bright golden or reddish brown. Slightly drooping inflorescence consists of small pink or white flowers collected in a panicle.
The frost resistance zone is 5a, that is, the plant can tolerate temperatures up to -29 ° C without shelter. In the European part of Our Country, astilba is grown up to the Urals.
Description Astilba Color Flash Lime
Astilba Color Flash Lime is a varietal modification of Chinese Astilbe Color Flash. The size of the plant, the shape of its leaves, the timing of flowering and ripening completely repeat the original ones. There is no difference in the care of the plant or the way it is planted and propagated. The only difference is the color scheme of the bush.
At the beginning of the growing season, the foliage has a yellow-green hue with a purple-brown border.
As the vegetative part of the bush forms, the following color change occurs: after a period of budding, the leaf darkens and becomes almost lime-colored. By the beginning of flowering, the color changes completely. The panicle of this variety also has differences – it is not pink, but purple.
By the end of summer, the middle of the leaves begins to lighten first to yellow, then to cream. However, their edges remain green.
Features of flowering
Astilba Color Flash Lime blooms for a long time, occurs from late June to early September.
Small flowers of lilac or purple hue are collected in panicle inflorescences
Their sizes are up to 12 cm wide and up to 15 in height. Inflorescences-panicles are mostly erect, but sometimes arcuate ones also come across.
Since the main decorative element of the culture is the leaves, gardeners do not consider it necessary to increase the intensity of flowering or its duration.
Application in design
Astilba hybrid Color Flash Lime is used in continuous plantings or as a border plant. It is also used in monogroups, among coniferous shrubs and near ferns, bergenia, Siberian irises and other similar crops.
In flower beds, astilba Color Flash Lime can be used as a central plant, and as a frame for higher ones. She normally survives the neighborhood with almost all flowers, both annuals and perennials.
Methods of reproduction
Three methods of propagation of astilba Color Flash Lime are used:
- seed;
- division of the bush;
- renewal kidneys.
Unlike many perennial crops, the cultivation of this plant from seeds is quite widespread. Planting material for this purpose is purchased at the store. Before planting, the seeds must undergo stratification for 20 days in the refrigerator, starting in January.
Then they are sown in small containers for seedlings with a substrate consisting of equal parts of peat and sand, covered with a film and placed back in the refrigerator. There they hatch for a month.
After the seeds “hatch”, the seedling boxes are transferred to the windowsills.
For several months, they are looked after like ordinary seedlings – watered daily and provided with 12-hour coverage. Landing in open ground is carried out in May.
The division of the bush is done at 4-5 years of plant life. To do this, it is dug up and divided into 6-8 parts according to the number of large root processes. Then they are planted in a new place.
Usually the division of the bush is carried out in the autumn, after the end of flowering.
The last method of reproduction is actually a kind of division of the bush, but at the same time the bush is not dug up, but a part of the root with a stem bud is separated from it.
Landing algorithm
The best site for planting a crop is fertile soil of neutral or weak acidity. Astilba Color Flash Lime prefers shady areas, but it can also be planted in partial shade with an illumination time of no more than 6 hours a day.
For planting, holes up to 30 cm deep are used. They are not prepared in advance. Immediately before planting, a small amount of wood ash, compost or humus is added to the hole and 5 liters of water are poured. After that, a seedling is placed in the hole, covered with soil, then watered.
Astilba Color Flash Lime is usually planted in two ways:
- solid landing – in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 0,3-0,5 m from each other;
- in a row – as a rule, they use one bed, or a row of holes with a distance of 30-35 cm between them.
In flowerbeds and mixborders, plants of the same growth as Astilba Color Flash Lime can be planted close to it. Undersized – at a distance of at least 50-60 cm.
Aftercare
Watering should be regular, in no case should the top layer be allowed to dry out. In hot weather, plants are moistened twice – in the morning and in the evening. It is allowed to mulch the soil with straw or large coniferous sawdust.
Astilba Color Flash Lime needs 4 top dressings per season:
- At the end of March, nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the form of urea or mullein.
- In early June, top dressing is done before flowering. To do this, use potassium nitrate at a concentration of 2 tbsp. l. for 10 liters of water. Consumption – about 500 ml per bush.
- After flowering, superphosphate should be added to the soil in the amount of 15 g per plant.
- Pre-winter top dressing consists of compost or horse manure. Traditionally, it is applied at the same time as pruning the stems.
Astilbe Color Flash Lime does not need any specific care procedures.
Preparation for winter
In zones corresponding to the declared frost resistance (5a), the plant does not need specialized shelters and preparation for winter. You can cut the stems before wintering so as not to remove them in the spring, as they will die anyway.
If the temperature in winter reaches -35 ° C, it is recommended, after pruning, to cover the bushes with a layer of sawdust 10-15 cm, cover them on top with plastic wrap, which is sprinkled with a layer of earth 30-40 cm high.
Diseases and pests
Diseases and pests do not often attack Astilba Color Flash Lime. Despite the love of moist air, fungi almost never attack the plant, but pests, especially in the absence of their main food, can gladly switch to this crop.
The most serious pest of astilbe is a small slobber bug. Its size rarely exceeds 5 mm, it has a yellow or brown color.
Pennitsy leave their eggs on astilba shoots, covering them with a sticky, foamy liquid.
Beetle larvae are able to eat shoots, significantly inhibiting the growth of culture. The use of insecticides is ineffective, since the foam protects the bugs well from almost any chemical. The only effective way to deal with pennitsa is to collect beetles and larvae by hand and then destroy them.
Another dangerous pest is the gall nematode. This is a small worm, about 2 mm long, parasitizing on the root system of Astilba Color Flash Lime.
The result of the vital activity of the gall nematode are small thickenings on the roots
The roots after the defeat of the worm begin to die and dry out, astilba slows down growth, its stems and leaves shrivel and fall. When such symptoms appear for no apparent reason, it is worth immediately examining the root system of the plant in order to look for thickenings.
With a weak defeat of the bush, you can try to process it with Fitoverm. But if the nematode has hit the entire root system, the plant will have to be disposed of. In addition, it is desirable to disinfect the area where it grew.
Astilba Color Flash Lime can also be dangerous for other pests, for example, clams – ordinary garden slugs. Moreover, they, like the plant in question, love high humidity.
Slugs are capable of destroying the entire leaf cover of Astilba Color Flash Lime in a matter of days.
Often, the fight against these pests (especially in plants located near water bodies) becomes the most important stage in the care of the crop. The most effective ways to kill shellfish are by using beer traps and hand-picking the pests.
Conclusion
Astilba Color Flash is one of the best plants used for mid-level planting design. A feature of the culture is the variability of foliage color depending on the time of year. In fact, the plant changes shade three times during the season. Glossy leaves that reflect sunlight well give Astilba Color Flash Lime even more decorative effect.
Astilbe Color Flash Lime Reviews
