Astrantia 'Claret'

Planting Advice for Astrantia major 'Claret':

• Best grown in moist, fertile, humus-rich soil, plants can be positioned in sun or partial shade and will also tolerate drier conditions.
• Before planting, prepare the soil by digging over and removing any weeds. Astrantias do not like to dry out. Incorporate plenty of organic matter when planting and water well in dry weather especially newly established plants.
• When planting a number of perennials, arrange them on the surface so you can see how they will look before planting.
• Individually knock out each plant from its container. Look at the roots – if they are circling around the compost, it is best to tease them out. To do this, push your fingers into the rootball along the bottom edge and pull. Do this in a couple of places. This should encourage the roots to spread into the surrounding soil.
• Next use a trowel or spade to create a hole just deep and wide enough to set in the rootball.
• The aim is to bury just the roots, leaving the bases of the stems (when in growth in summer) or the shoots (in spring) above ground.
• Firm back around the soil, using your hand for small clumps and your heel on larger areas.
• Water in well to settle the soil and prevent drying out.

Aftercare for Astrantia 'Claret':

• Lift and divide large clumps in early spring and apply a generous 5-7cm mulch of well-rotted manure or garden compost around the plant.
• Divided specimens may take some time to establish since they don't like having their roots disturbed.
• Plants will self-seed themselves profusely if you allow the flower stalks to set seed, so they're best removed once finished to prevent seeding.

Pruning Astrantia:

• After flowering, can be cut right back to produce a second flush of foliage and flowers.

Our experienced team at the nursery will always carefully package and send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive once you receive and plant them. Although most plants are extremely tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme of weather conditions, we always avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme frosts or heat is forecast. We also avoid dispatching orders over Bank Holiday weekends.

Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. If you have ordered a 'pre-order' item, these will be sent out as soon as possible after the quoted dispatch date and we generally ship your entire order with any pre-ordered items. Once your order has been dispatched, we will send you an email with details on how you can track it.

We send most of our orders via a fully tracked courier service with Yodel. We will send you a tracking link as soon as your order has been dispatched. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, we will not require a signature on delivery, and we ask out couriers to leave your item in a safe place ad your delivery address.

*Please note, once your item has been delivered, we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your delivery address. If you have delivery instruction and require our courier to leave your item in a specific place, please let us know - there is an option to leave a message for the courier at the checkout.

For smaller and single-item orders, we may send these via the post with Royal Mail - Tracking will not be available for orders sent via this method.

**Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.

For all orders, a small delivery fee of £4.99 will be charged or spend over £49.99 for FREE Delivery!