Astilbe Mighty® 'Chocolate Cherry'

Astilbe Mighty® 'Chocolate Cherry': Supersized Raspberry Plumes

Chocolate leaves, cherry blooms and a shade plant that reads like the dessert menu at a steakhouse you can't afford. 'Chocolate Cherry' grows big, tall and lavish. ORDER IT ANYWAY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Astilbe hybrid
• Common Name: False Spirea, Astilbe
• Series: Mighty®
• Height: 120 cm (4 ft)
• Spread: 90–120 cm (3–4 ft)
• Flowers: Cherry-red buds opening to deep raspberry-pink, in large, dense plumes that cut well
• Bloom Time: Midsummer to late summer (July to August)
• Foliage: Finely divided, dark green flushed with bronze and chocolate-maroon, on dark red stems
• Features: Rabbit resistant, good cut flower

Where to Plant: Give it the back of a shade border, where its height actually gets seen. It makes a strong vertical accent beside a woodland path or near a pond edge, anywhere the soil stays moist. The plumes are long enough for a vase.

Companion Plants: Use this tall cherry-red astilbe at the back of a moist, part-shade bed with gold and dark leaves in front. Helleborus HGC® Ice N' Roses® Dark Picotee opens white flowers edged in dark red at 30 to 45 cm from March to May. Heuchera 'Caramel' adds apricot-gold foliage at 25 to 30 cm. Hosta 'Gold Standard' brings gold leaves with green edges at 55 cm. Carex appalachica edges the bed with fine, thread-like native blades at 15 to 30 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in spring or early fall in rich, moist, well-drained soil. Work compost into clay before planting. Leave it plenty of room, since it fills out to around a metre wide. A plant this size drinks a lot. Water deeply in dry spells and mulch to keep the roots cool. Dry soil and hot afternoon sun lead to crisp leaves and short plumes. Leave the dried plumes for winter interest or cut them off after bloom. Trim the stems to the ground in late fall or early spring. Divide in spring every three to four years if the clump gets crowded.

History: 'Chocolate Cherry' was bred by Hans van der Meer in Nieuwe Wetering, the Netherlands, from a 2010 cross between a Japanese astilbe selection and an Arendsii hybrid. It was selected in 2012 and is sold in the Mighty® series of large astilbes.

Final Thoughts: Zero calories, zero guilt, and the deer and rabbits aren't invited to share. PLANT DESSERT FIRST.