Horticulturist Ryan Dowsell has shared his top tips for growing one of his favourite perennials – a ‘beautiful’ easy-care summer flowering plant that’s perfect for beginners

A gardening expert has spotlighted one of his favourite perennials – an easy-care plant he insists will flower throughout the entire summer in your garden. Ryan Dowsell, a horticulturist based in Surrey, headed to TikTok to show off the “beautiful” Astrantia Major (also known as Great masterwort).

“It’s a hardy perennial in the UK and it’s easy to care for so it’s perfect for a beginner gardener,” he gushed in a video. As well as thriving at the front of a border, Ryan explained that Astrantia Major blooms just as beautifully in full sun and partial shade. “It flowers repeatedly, all summer long,” he added.

When it comes to appearance, Ryan praised the “gorgeous pink blush” Astrantia Major displays, something that “works really well” as a cut flower in a vase. “The flowers are loved by pollinators too,” he noted.

Once mature, Astrantias are also straightforward to divide, Ryan pointed out – making them ideal to use as a “repeating flower” throughout the garden.

Is Astrantia safe for pets?

The clip prompted numerous gardeners to request more details about the flowering plant, with one asking Ryan: “Are these cat friendly/do you have any suggestions of perennials that are as gorgeous but are cat friendly?”

To which he clarified: “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, lillies, daphne.”

A second person asked: “Just had my bare roots of these turn up. Currently having a good drink. I expected them to be a little more formed. Is potting them best to establish some roots first?”

Ryan replied with his advice: “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).”

While a third viewer shared: “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.”

RHS guide to growing Astrantia major: Soil, light, and care tips

Ryan responded: “That sounds lovely! Once they settle into the ground (or into a crack!) they really do perform reliably year after year.”

Backing up Ryan’s guidance, meanwhile, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) adds of Astrantia Major 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.”

As a handy tip, it’s advisable to ‘deadhead’ Astrantias to encourage continued flowering. Allowing old flowerheads to set seed leads to a delay in the production of new blooms.