First, neither of them are bulbs :-) I suspect you purchased them as bare root starts, which are often mistakenly advertised, handled and sold as bulbs. While true bulbs or corms can usually be stored long term in just peat or sawdust (or even without), bare root starts of normally rooted perennials (like peonies or astilbe) cannot. If the roots are allowed to dry out, the plants will suffer and usually die. It is an all too common occurrence with these inexpensive bagged starts that you can find at Costco or the box stores.

I consider these just a big gamble with your money. Some will survive this sort of treatment; a lot won't. You will have far better success - nearly 100% survival - if you purchase potted starts of these sorts of plants, not the dried out, light-deprived versions you can find in bags in early spring.

All you can do now is hope for the best. But astilbe should be in bloom now so even if they do pop up this season, I doubt you will see any flowers.

Thanks gardengal!

ah, yes I did buy them from Walmart (even though I should've known better), and they were in those little baggies. I tried to pick ones that looked a little moist, but as you said they're probably horrible anyways haha.

bow that you mention it I've seen other astilbe in bloom. My neighbor has one that looks beautiful! I suppose I'll just have to buy full grown plants. Now I know!

Had the same experience except my package had 3 astilbe. After a while, I removed a lot of dirt on the top. One of them, the one in the largest pot, has come up and several leaves. The other two, nothing!