plant them... note color.. move them in fall ...

you better get them in the ground pretty fast.. you dont want to be transplanting.. while in flower ...

they should have been in the ground weeks ago ... so hup to it ... no time to delay hoping you can color coordinate plants that havent flowered ..

you seem to want to think.. that you will only have one shot at planting them.. in a forever spot ... most of us move things at will .. but not when flowering ...

ken

Lucky you to get so many freebie astilbes. I wouldn't be without my nearly two dozen+ plants--they add so much to my part sun & shade beds.

The #1 thing to remember about astilbe is it needs plenty of moisture. The #2 thing to remember is they're tough as nails. About three years ago we had not a drop of rain from early June until mid-September. Every one of my astilbes had curled-up, crispy foliage by fall; every one of them came through the subsequent winter months and the following year behaved like nothing had happened.

The link below will bring you to a Missouri Botanical Garden webpage with a picture of Astilbe chinensis which happens to be a slightly shorter plant with dense flowering spikes as opposed to other types with more airy blooms & foliage such as A. arendsii or A. brautschleier. Astilbe bloom colors generally include pink, red, white & lavender.

Astilbes are well-behaved--none of my plants have ever self-seeded or spread. All come back, year after year, exactly where they were originally planted.

Sorry I can't help you ID your plants prior to planting. I know what I like about astilbes and how they perform in my own garden beds but am not an expert on the various cultivars beyond what I've offered above. You might check one of the more reliable online garden sources such as Santa Rosa Gardens. Someone there might be able to help you with identification.

Here is a link that might be useful: Astilbe chinensis

I also like my astilbe very much -- definitely not invasive! In fact one year they made babies and I was thrilled, I re-planted them all and they all survived, but unfortunately that was the only time. They do come in all different colors and sizes so do what Ken says, plant them, note down, and move later. The one thing that isn't great about them is the blooms are not very long-lasting, but the foliage looks very pretty for a long time as long as they don't dry out, and they are very care-free.

The only one I can think of that is a real creeper is Astilbe pumila. In a few years, it can cover a decent amount of territory, but I wouldn't call it invasive - just robust. It actually makes a good groundcover in sun or shade.

Kevin