Growing Astrantias in Australia

Astrantia major, a plant well-loved in European gardens for over 500 years, blooms from November to February in Australia, with flowers that are not only attractive to us but also to a surprising diversity of insect pollinators. This plant was once primarily valued as a medicinal herb, and over the centuries it has gone by the various names of ‘Great Masterwort’, ‘Imperatoria’, ‘Hattie’s Pincushion’, and ‘Melancholy Gentleman’. Its perceived herbal uses had fallen out of favour by the 18^th century, when it was relegated to being a species usually only found in botanic gardens. But with the rise of naturalistic landscapes in the 19^th century, Astrantia major found renewed favour in the cottage gardens of Britain and Europe, grown for its unobtrusive beauty, which is one reason for its popularity today as a cottage garden ornamental. The flowers are not gaudy or voluptuous, and in Europe they are used as fillers rather than the centrepiece of a floral arrangement. But take a close look, and there is something special about the elegant and dainty starburst-shaped umbels that form the beautiful flower clusters of Astrantia major.

NATIVE RANGE

Astrantias are native to Europe, and are often described as alpine plants, but depending on your definition of ‘alpine’, it may perhaps be more correct to call them ‘highland’ plants. In their native range they can be found anywhere between 100m to 2,300m in altitude. Their distribution spans western Europe through to western Asia, and they are native to all the mountain ranges from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Balkans, and the Carpathians in Europe, to the Caucasus in western Asia. Today, the greatest concentration of Astrantia major in the wild is in meadows and woodlands on the foothills of the Swiss Alps near Geneva and in south-eastern France.

GROWING ASTRANTIAS IN AUSTRALIA

As we Aussies are well aware, the Australian continent is relatively hot, dry, and low-lying compared to the rest of the world. It is therefore no wonder that astrantias are a fairly rare sight here. In Britain and Europe, these plants are highly valued in the home garden as an easy, low-maintenance herbaceous perennial. But they are rather fussy about their climate and position, and the vast majority of Australians live in a climate that is too warm for astrantias. They certainly grow happily here in Ballarat, but then Ballarat is Australia’s coldest major city. So, where else may astrantias be grown? Here’s a list of places where I would suggest giving this special plant a go:

1. Most of Tasmania. Any locations over 100m altitude with frosty winters should be suitable.
2. The highlands of Victoria. The lower the latitude is, the higher the altitude needs to be. In Victoria, astrantias do best in areas over 300m high. This includes towns such as Ballarat, Creswick, Daylesford, Trentham, Ballan, Gisborne, Woodend, Kyneton, Olinda, Beechworth, Omeo, and many other surrounding places, especially in the Central Highlands, the Macedon Ranges, the Dandenong Ranges, and elevated parts of Gippsland.
3. The highland and tableland regions of NSW and the ACT. This includes the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, New England and the Northern Tablelands. In southern NSW, astrantias should be happy to grow in altitudes over 500m, while in northern NSW they would need to be over around 700m. As well as the significant urban areas of Canberra and the Blue Mountains, these regions include the towns of Orange, Bathurst, Goulburn, Armidale, Lithgow, Bowral, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Glen Innes, Cooma, Walcha, and many smaller surrounding towns and properties.
4. The Mount Lofty region of South Australia, including Crafers and Stirling.

Beyond these regions, astrantias are probably too far out of their comfort zone, but if you have been successful in growing them anywhere that isn’t listed, please send us a message!

PREFERRED GROWING CONDITIONS

Position: Dappled shade is best; part sun may be suitable in cooler regions. Whilst they may grow in full sun in Europe, the Australian sun is much harsher, and too much sun in summer will curl and crisp the leaves.

Soil: Nutrient-rich clay or loam, with a preference for alkaline calcareous soil.

Water: Consistently moist soil is required. They do not like drying out nor do they like being saturated.

Frost hardiness: Frost hardy to -34°C. That’s colder than anything Australia can throw at them!

Pests and diseases: Resistant to slugs and snails. The cultivar ‘Snow Star’ has been noted to be resistant to pathogens common to other astrantias.

Temperature: Astrantias are not recommended for locations that have a mean annual temperature above 14°C. Send us a message if you are not sure of the mean annual temperature where you live.

WHAT THE EXPERTS HAVE SAID

In the 18^th century:

‘These plants are seldom preserved but in botanic gardens, there being no great beauty in their flowers. They all grow naturally upon the Alps.’ (Phillip Miller, The Gardener’s Dictionary, 1768)

In the 19^th century:

‘It is easily cultivated, thriving well on a rich and rather moist border, but is not found in every flaunting flower-garden. We have observed it to be a favourite of the more refined admirers of Nature, who would most delight to gather it on its native Alps.’ (Sir James Smith, Exotic Botany, 1804)

In the 20^th century:

‘Quite indestructible and with pleasant foliage they blend happily with any society in which they find themselves. One old country name is ‘Hattie’s pincushion’, and the flowers do look somewhat like pincushions with small umbels surrounded by conspicuous bracts. None of the astrantias are very distinct in colour and that, I suppose, is the reason for another old country name – ‘melancholy gentleman’. They are not melancholy to me, not even sombre, merely delicate in construction and colour, with a fine upright habit and always smiling faces … The present interest in astrantias is just another example of the uncanny way the cottagers had of finding and keeping a good plant. These flowers have been grown for many years in cottage gardens, and they looked perfectly at home there. Now other people are discovering how beautiful they are and the nurseries cannot keep up with demand. They fit in so well with our informal mixed borders and are the perfect plants to grow with shrubs; they are, in fact, the best of good mixers.’ (Margery Fish, Cottage Garden Flowers, 1961)

In the 21^st century:

‘Delightful, old-fashioned plants that are once more back in fashion, and rightly so.’ (Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, Planting the Natural Garden, 2019)