Fall Aster Flowers
First and Most Important Tip
The first (and most important) growing tip is to give the regular tall varieties a little pruning when they reach 12 inches tall in the early spring. When they reach that height, cut them back evenly to 6-8 inches tall. This will cause them to bush out and give you a monstrous display of blooms rather than the normal amount.
Growing Conditions
Full sun is by far the best spot. A little early morning shade is fine but too much shade will bring on the powdery mildew these plants are noted for.
Decent soil and water will give you a good plant but overfeeding turns this into a floppy mess. Some gardeners stake this plant as a matter of routine gardening but I never do.
Clay soils are not preferred as they hold the winter water and the roots will rot. This plant prefers good drainage.
Propagation and Hardiness
This
is a USDA zone 3/4 plant and
very tough.Propagation is easy on this plant either by tip cuttings or by spring/fall division. This is a tough one to kill.
Aster Flowers You'll See in Garden Centers
These are the species you'll see; there are almost too many varieties to list on a single web page so understand each species has different colored varieties and you're fine.
A. alpinus flowers in summer, 8-12" tall, single flowers
A. amellus flowers in early fall, 24" tall, single in clusters
A. divaricatus, summer bloomer, 12-24", cluster bloomer
A. x frikartii, early fall, 24-36" tall, cluster bloomer (this is hardy in USDA 5)
A. nova-angliae, early fall, 48-60" tall, cluster blooms
A. novi-belgii, early fall blooms, 12-60" tall (serious variation in varieties!) cluster blooms
A. sedifolius, mid fall blooms, 24-36" tall, cluster blooms
A. tataricus, late fall bloomer, 36-60" tall (another large number of varieties) cluster blooms
A. thompsonii, early fall, 24" tall, cluster bloomer
A. tongolensis, sumer bloomer, 18" tall, single blooms
Every garden needs some of these gorgeous fall aster flowers to complete the flowering season and extend gardening pleasures right up until hard frosts. These plants are the perennial backbone plants to do just that.
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