Astrantia ‘Ruby Wedding’

Astrantia ‘Ruby Wedding’

£6.50

4 in stock

Potsize – 1L

We’ve seen it written that Astrantia ‘Ruby Wedding’ makes it inferior to some of the clonally propagated ones out there, but we’ve not found that the case at all. The ones we have are every bit as rich in colour as Ruby Wedding and Hadspen Blood. They don’t have the dark staining leaves of the Gill Richardson Group, but for flower alone they are a lovely deep red with flowers of a very decent size.

Ruby Wedding has its origins at the RHS Wisley where it was selected as a superior seedling in a sowing of Astrantia major subsp. major. Its bracts are of a good size and are strongly red to purple in hue. It is the parent of the seed strain known as Claret which may or may not live up to its parents reputation. It i svery similar to Hadspen Blood which has a similar bloodline but was selected by Nori Pope of Hadspen Gardens.

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Astrantia Compared

Astrantia in the Garden

Botanical Style Photographs

4 in stock

Description

Astrantia ‘Ruby Wedding’

We’ve seen it written that Astrantia ‘Ruby Wedding’ makes it inferior to some of the clonally propagated ones out there, but we’ve not found that the case at all. The ones we have are every bit as rich in colour as Ruby Wedding and Hadspen Blood. They don’t have the dark staining leaves of the Gill Richardson Group, but for flower alone they are a lovely deep red with flowers of a very decent size.

Ruby Wedding has its origins at the RHS Wisley where it was selected as a superior seedling in a sowing of Astrantia major subsp. major. Its bracts are of a good size and are strongly red to purple in hue. It is the parent of the seed strain known as Claret which may or may not live up to its parents reputation. It i svery similar to Hadspen Blood which has a similar bloodline but was selected by Nori Pope of Hadspen Gardens.

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.

Masterwort, Mountain Sanicle

This is 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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British Native

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