It would be easy to assume that astrantias, with their mass of dainty pincushion flowers held above mounds of soft foliage, are less than hardy or require special attention, but that could not be further from the truth. Their delicate appearance belies their toughness.
Dr Andrew Ward, who holds the Plant Heritage National Collection of astrantias at his nursery in Norwell, Nottinghamshire, grows almost 70 cultivars on heavy clay soil in a frost pocket where they regularly experience lows of -12ºC in winter – not perhaps the most obvious conditions for a National Collection, but Andrew says
