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Astilbe 'Deutschland'



28th June 2014


'Deutschland' is one of the smaller hybrid Astilbe but it is one of the best with white flowers. The plumes are upright, moderately fluffy and although they turn brown as they die, they don't make a song and dance about it. One of a group of excellent hybrids raised in Germany by Georg Arends, released in 1920.
That would be reason enough to grow it and very sensible, and I commend sensible actions to you. I can't always claim to follow my own advice. In my early 20's I started to put together a collection of Astilbe. At the time they were definitely out of fashion. I wasn't particularly good at growing them, I still struggle sometimes. They look so tough and resilient I forget to keep them weeded and tidy. It is to their credit that years after they have been forgotten they still survive in the undergrowth. 'Deutschland' arrived in the random early days of acquiring things and it was one of those first meetings that left an impression. As I grow older I am developing an irrational nostalgia for "the old days" and with it "the old plants". 'Deutschland' is stuck in the memory and as a consequence it has become stuck in my affection. I have been trawling through the septic tank of memory and dredging up all the things I have killed before, so here it is again.