Gardening expert Ryan Dowsell has highlighted Astrantia Major, also known as Great masterwort, as an easy-care perennial that flowers throughout the summer. In a TikTok video, the Surrey-based horticulturist described the plant as "beautiful" and ideal for beginner gardeners due to its hardiness and low maintenance requirements.
Ideal Growing Conditions for Astrantia Major
Dowsell explained that Astrantia Major thrives at the front of borders and performs well in both full sun and partial shade. "It flowers repeatedly, all summer long," he added. The plant features a "gorgeous pink blush" that makes it an excellent cut flower for vases, and its blooms attract pollinators.
Once mature, Astrantias are easy to divide, allowing gardeners to use them as repeating flowers throughout the garden.
Pet Safety and Planting Advice
In response to a viewer's question about cat safety, Dowsell confirmed: "Astrantia is not toxic for humans or pets. There are so many cat-friendly plants that it's easier to say what might be toxic - plants to avoid include foxgloves, lupins, lilies, daphne."
For another viewer who received bare-root plants, Dowsell advised potting them first to establish roots: "Yep, I would put them in pots until you see some good leaf growth from the bare roots. They might struggle if placed directly in the ground now (especially with the heatwave)."
One viewer shared success growing Astrantia in challenging conditions: "I love them. They are so strong and well developing in any area of my garden. Sun or half shade - they love both. The ground? One Astrantia even flowers between my stone pathway on a very small patch of soil." Dowsell responded: "That sounds lovely! Once they settle into the ground (or into a crack!) they really do perform reliably year after year."
RHS Guidance on Astrantia Major Care
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) supports Dowsell's advice, noting on its website: "The dainty flowers appear in early summer, with an outer ruff of longer petals around a pincushion-like centre. They come in shades of greenish-white, pink or maroon, depending on the cultivar, and are held in clusters at the top of straight stems (30-90cm/1-3ft tall), above clumps of deeply lobed foliage. Astrantias are hardy perennials, dying down in autumn, then reappearing in spring."
The RHS adds: "Astrantias are happy in most ordinary garden soils, but do best in fertile soil that drains easily. Astrantias won't grow well in excessively dry or wet soils, and won't flower in deep shade. In hot, dry weather in full sun they can crisp up, so keep them well watered."
To encourage continued flowering, the RHS recommends deadheading Astrantias, as allowing old flowerheads to set seed delays new blooms.
