Astilbe 'Heart and Soul' wasn't so much a plant that Harrie Verduin found as one which called out to him.

"Every time you see something different" says Harrie, referring to his frequent surveyings of his selection fields. But late one evening he saw something not only different but exceptionally beautiful. Out of the thousands of seedlings in the field, one plant was radiating a sublime blue sheen which just begged attention.

Further examination of the plant shows that this is due to an irridescent top layer on the petals which reflects blue light when it shines at a low angle, such as at the start or the end of the day.

Although this effect is not unique in A. 'Heart and Soul' it is noticeably most visible in this variety due to the flowers being formed of large petals.

A. ‘Heart and Soul’ was a seedling from Harrie's 2nd breeding program which he initiated in 1998. Seeds produced from a garden full of Astilbe chinensis plants were collected and sewn, beginning years of selection work.

A. 'Heart and Soul' showed off its distinctive colour effect at the Keukenhof flower show in 2006

From the thousands of seedlings produced by the chinensis garden, just 100 were selected to be grown in the second year. That number was further whittled down over the next 7 years as plants either proved their worth or not, until only a few remained.

The plants were judged on such criteria as flower colour, number of flowering stems, foliage colour, shape of flower plumes and overall plant strength.

Just one glance at A. 'Heart and Soul' confirms its star credentials. It is a bold plant with huge, densely fluffed flower plumes. But its extra special attraction lies in the beautiful colour effect of a blue sheen that overlays the light lavender-pink flowers. 

Gary Vanburen, the man responsible for selecting Darwin PlantSpotters varieties was instantly smitten when he first encountered A. 'Heart and Soul' at Harrie's nursery, proclaiming it to be his undoubted favourite of the many impressive varieties on show there.

Harrie with A. 'Heart and Soul' at his nursery

Having been produced from seeds from A. chinensis plants, A. 'Heart and Soul' is a tougher cookie than most. However, Harrie thinks it also has some mixed heritage, which is why it is designated as a hybrid plant rather than an A. chinensis variety.