Do you think Astrantias will grow in West Texas? What do they like? We are very dry and in Summer, very hot. Winters are pretty mild, but we can drop down to below freezing & stay there for hours, or days. So, what does this flower like? temperature range? soil type? shade/sun? Moderator's note: this post split from topic http://www.gardenstew.com/about9067.html
Hello Westex, I will be honest and direct to the point: I do not think this plant will do well where you live. Although we have stretches of several weeks where the temp is above 30°C and it does fine. I suspect that it would get even hotter and dryer there. This is a plant that above all else, loves and needs moist and nutricious ground. I believe that your arrid milieu is just too much for the Astrantia... Having said that, I am myself, not one to be easily deterred by difficulties in life, so I imagine myself in your situation. If I were really impressed by this plant...so much so that I would not be willing to accept common sense and forsake convential wisdom...then I would try and create a small bed where I could try and imitate the conditions that this plant requires. --I would select a place in the pure shade (there). Then buy a sack of humus+compost and a sack of fertilized garden soil and scratch out a bed, digging down at least one spade depth and chop the clods a little but not fine. Water this VERY thoroughly. Give it a good soaking. (Some folks would even remove the clods, put cardboared in the hole then shovel the clods back on top of it). --The reason for this is that the cardboard will hold moisture for quite a while. It's a technique that I use with my runner beans. --Then dump the fertilized garden soil on top...and rake it a bit, letting the garden soil fall down in-between the clods somewhat. Rake it level with the rest of the yard and water thoroughly again. --If you want to be really fancy, then you could use 2x4's to make a sort of frame around the plot (like a raised bed). This will mean more watering for you however, as raised beds are notorious for drying out quickly. Whether you build a frame around the little bed or not, you then add the sack of humus+compost directly on top of the fertilized garden soil and gently level it. Very gently, so that you can have a uniform thickness of this layer. Then water this layer thoroughly and apply some sort of mulch. The mulch will hold the moisture further. --Water this bed daily until you have your plants. when the plantlets are ready to be planted use a tulip bulb planter or a trowel to dig a little hole for the plant and place him in the soil. Water the plantlets thoroughly and put the mulch back around the plants base. Then you are all set. You can give water as needed...but you will have to give water periodically throughout the blooming period. If you cannot guage whether or not you should give water, scratch doen with a finger and see how moist it is. Never let the soil dry out or they will turn into fritos before you can say, "No qiero". If you try this and are successful, you will undoubtedly be the only texan within 100 miles to have this plant growing outside. That in itself is reason to try it. hahaha Good luck