Masterwort Roma

An outstanding, long-flowering hybrid masterwort, Astrantia Roma is a small to medium-sized, clump-forming, perennial, which flowers in early summer but nearly always repeat-flowers in autumn. Its delicate colour lights up partial shade, and it tolerates poorly drained soil. The attractive, deeply lobed leaves are mid-green, a lovely foil for the flowers. From June to September the plant carries on wiry stems ‘pincushion’ flowers with pale pink bracts and deeper pink ‘pins’ in the centre. It seeds about very little, but dead-head the flowers, and it will flower almost all summer. Masterwort Roma holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Site: Sheltered
Soil: Any fertile, humus-rich, moist soil; tolerates poorly drained soil
Position: Partial shade; tolerates full sun in reliably moist soil
Season of interest: Early summer to autumn
Hardiness: Very hardy
Height: 2’ (60cm) Spread: 1’4” (40cm)

Photos by yewchan and Derek Winterburn and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and BY-ND 2.0.