Peach Blossom is an heirloom astilbe with soft peach-pink flower plumes held like feathery torches over ferny, deep green foliage in early summer. It brings a color to the shade garden that hostas and ferns can't, and the plumes cut nicely for arrangements.

Astilbes want shade to part shade and soil that stays consistently moist; in Birmingham that means compost-rich ground, mulch, and water during dry spells, since they sulk in dry shade. Leave the bronzed seed plumes standing for texture into fall.