Martyn Cox on a quiet border star
Looking for a hard-working perennial to give your garden a show-stopping display of vibrant colour all summer long?
Hattie’s Pincushion is an old moniker for a group of desirable perennials known to most as astrantias. The name is out of favour with modern gardeners, but it perfectly describes the plant’s distinctive flowers — up close, it appears as if masses of tiny pins have been stabbed into the centre.
Each ‘pin’ is actually a tiny flower on a short stalk. The flower head itself is made up of 30 to 60 of these flowers, surrounded by a ruff of petal-like, papery bracts. Measuring 1in to 2½in across, flowerheads are borne in succession over the summer on branched, erect stems above clumps of deeply lobed leaves.
Whether you refer to them as astrantia, Hattie’s pincushion or by their even more archaic nickname of masterwort, these beautiful plants are garden workhorses. Most flower non-stop from June to August, but it’s possible to admire them from late spring until early autumn, depending on variety.
To enjoy a display next year, snap up some container-grown plants. Set them in a sunny or partially shaded spot with moistureretentive, fertile soil and they’ll form large, floriferous clumps. Plants should deliver the goods for about five years before they need dividing to maintain vigour.
Astrantias are native largely to mainland Europe and were originally grown as medicinal plants.
In 1653, herbalist Nicholas Culpeper recommended astrantias for treating ‘cold griefs and diseases both of the stomach and body’. Today, 116 different astrantias are available here, boasting sprays of white, pink, red or purple flowerheads that are carried 1ft to 3ft above the ground. Bracts sometimes contrast with the central flowers, or are tipped, striped or have a different shade on the reverse side for a two-tone effect.
I asked Andrew Ward of Norwell Nurseries, Nottinghamshire, England, which was his favourite.
He chose ‘Can Candy’, introduced in 2013 with dark red stems, soft pink flowers and two-tone, silver and red bracts. The flowerheads of this floriferous variety reminded him of fairground tents.
They may be widely associated with traditional cottage gardens, herbaceous borders and mixed beds, but astrantias work well in contemporary plantings, whether in a naturalistic scheme with ornamental grasses or as the provider of colour in a minimalistic garden dominated by foliage plants.
Roses, hardy geraniums, salvias and thalictrums make perfect partners for astrantias, whose flowers are a magnet for bees, hoverflies and other pollinators.
For an eye-catching combo, set pink Astrantia ‘Roma’ alongside Hylotelephium ‘Purple Emperor’, and Stipa tenuissima below Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’.
Apart from brightening the garden, the blooms are popular for drying due to their strong stems and flowers that remain colourfast. Simply cut stems before they start to make seeds, remove leaves and hang upside-down in a cool, dry, dark and airy place. Leave for two to three weeks until dry.
Looking after astrantias is easy. Deadhead blooms as they start to fade to prevent self-seeding and cut back entire stems when the last flower has done its thing. This will sometimes result in a later floral flush. When the foliage begins to turn yellow in autumn, chop down the entire plant to ground level.
As for problems – there aren’t really any. Astrantias are among a handful of perennials that are resistant to slugs and snails. It’s believed they give the plants a wide berth as they don’t like the astringent scent.
Stockists include Mount Venus Nursery,Rathfarnham, Dublin (mountvenusnursery.com); Boyne Garden Centre, Slane, Co Meath (boynegardencentre.ie).