Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’

Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’

£6.50

Out of stock

RHS AGM

RHS AGM

Potsize – 1L

Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’. Pretty yellow variegated leaf form of Masterwort originating in 1966. Leaves form a dense mound which is a delight in the Spring garden. Each leaf is generously margined with a yellow border which whitens first with age and then turns green later in the summer so that the plant appears non variegated. Collared flowers, which dry excellently, are white tinted green with a slight hint of pink. One of the tallest of the Astrantia major cultivars at 75cm Happy in sun or part shade with some drainage.

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Description

Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’

Pretty yellow variegated leaf form of Masterwort originating in 1966. The leaves of Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’ form a dense mound which is a delight in the Spring garden. Each leaf is generously margined with a yellow border which whitens first with age and then turns green later in the summer so that the plant appears non variegated. Collared flowers, which dry excellently, are white tinted green with a slight hint of pink. One of the tallest of the Astrantia major cultivars at 75cm Happy in sun or part shade with some drainage.

Astrantia like rich living. To get the best flower size and quality out of them, either feed them or better still divide and replant every 2 or 3 years to maintain their vigour.

‘Astrantias have a quaint beauty of their own’ – William Robinson.

Masterwort, Mountain Sanicle

This i one of two Genera, (along with Eryngium), that you may be surprised to find classified in the Umbelliferae (Apiaceae),  along with carrots, fennel and cow parsley. However if you realise that each flower is in fact a flower head and then explode that out, the similarities soon become clear. They produce flowers over a very extended season, from Spring into Summer and dry very well.

Astrantia are natives of alpine meadows and light woodland and prefer a moisture retentive soil. Having said that, they are the most obliging of plants and will grow in a wide variety of sites. They tolerate sun to shade, moist to fairly dry. In a light woodland situation they will seed moderately freely, producing a drift of plants in a delightful range of flower shades. The wild plant is not common and not native to Britain, but has naturalised in one or two grassy areas. They produce dense spreading crowns and make excellent ground cover.

Most plants encountered will be forms of Astrantia major. However, we also offer the lovely and more spreading Astrantia maxima with its larger heads of sugary pink with flatter, broader bracts. Hybrids are rare, but Nori and Sandra Pope crossed Astrantia major and Astrantia maxima at Hadspen Garden in Somerset to produce the lovely Astrantia ‘Hadspen Blood’.

Naming

There may be two (or three) derivations for the name Astrantia, either from the Latin ‘Aster’ – a star, in allusion to the starry flowers, or from the Greek ‘astron’ – a star, and ‘anti’ – like, or alternatively as a corruption of ‘Magisterantia’ – masterwort, a name given to it believing it to be bit of a cure-all.

Masterwort can also refer to the plant Imperatoria ostruthium

Umbelliferae (Apiaceae)

 

Links – Astrantia Compared , Astrantia in the Garden , Botanical Style Photographs

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