National Collection of Astilbe

The Marwood Hill Gardens Astilbe Collection – by Malcolm Pharoah

The National Collection was started in 1990, several years after Plant Heritage or as it was known then NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) was formed in 1978. The main role of NCCPG was to form National Collections of groups of plants throughout the country and so conserve the vast range of cultivars and species of a genus which were and still are being lost due to the lack of availability in garden centres.

I was first aware of Astilbes when I was a student at RHS garden Wisley in 1970-1972 and taking the two year Diploma course in Horticulture there. At that time one of the activities was to help at the shows produced by the RHS. One was the Chelsea Flower Show which was and still is the most famous flower show in the world with international exhibits from many countries. One exhibitor was a firm called Bees of Chester who had a large display of herbaceous plants. I can still visualise after 40 years the spectacular splash of colour their stand displayed but the overwhelming sight was rows of superb coloured forms of Astilbes. Their colours merging with each other to create a sight I don’t think I will ever see again.

After I finished my two years at Wisley, I came to work at Marwood Hill Gardens near Barnstaple in North Devon. Dr James Smart, the owner, had recently started creating the garden in a valley with a natural stream running through the middle and had made two, eventually three lakes. It was a young garden but already had an impressive collection of trees and shrubs and some herbaceous plants including about eight Astilbes. The growing conditions for Astilbes are ideal at Marwood with a clay soil which holds on to nutrients and moisture. Rainfall is plentiful with no threat of droughts.

Between 1972 and 1990 the garden increased in size from 8 to 18 acres (8 hectares) and with it the number of visitors, as the garden is open every day of the week from March to the end of October. During this period the number and range of plants increased including Astilbes, several of which were purchased from the nursery of Bees of Chester (now unfortunately not in existence. Like many good nurseries they have closed down due to retirement, competition from garden centres or various other reasons.)

In 1989 we were approached by Graham Pattison, who was collections organiser with Plant Heritage, with a view to starting a National Collection of Astilbes. He said at the time that another man was also forming a National Collection in Cumbria in the north west of England at the Lakeland Horticultural Societies garden at Holehird near Lake Windermere.

I eventually met Henry Noblett and since the formation of the two collections we have helped each other with information and exchanging plants. We have been on trips abroad to Holland and Germany to see nurseries and other collections and have been lucky to collect several Astilbes which were thought to be lost to cultivation. Both collections are similar although conditions are different.

Since Henry Noblett stood down in the running of the collection at Holehird, John Ashley has taken over as well as being registrar for Astilbes worldwide.

The most serious problem encountered by far has been the incorrect naming of plants. Many Astilbes on sale and in public gardens are wrongly named. The problem is widespread and not confined to Britain. It makes sensible discussion about individual plants difficult because it is not known if the plants are the same. It can also be expensive. Plants bought out of flower early in the year flower months later at the wrong height and in the wrong colour. This was experienced quite early on in the life of the collection and repeated over and over again.

Devon’s National Collection

Devon’s National Collection of Astilbe is held at Marwood Hill Gardens in North Devon. Working very closely with the Lakeland Horticultural Society, who hold the other national collection, our aim is to be able to collect and grow all species and cultivars which still exist in the world today.

At present we have over 120 forms and are hopeful that we shall be able to increase this by another 20-30.

We have established contact in various countries with people who have an interest in growing Astilbes and who have collections of them. One lady in Latvia has several of the Arends cultivars which were lost both in his nursery and throughout Europe during the Second World War. These together with ones obtained from Russia, Holland, Germany and America have increased the collection in recent years.

Most of the collection is planted in the gardens around the sides of the lakes and stream at Marwood  Hill and these produce an impressive splash of colour from late May to September.

Growing Astilbe