Sunday, October 4, 2009

Another Shot of the Tatarian Aster

I left this out of my last post. I'm not much of an aster enthusiast, but this plant is just amazing, in my mind. Gets absolutely no attention all year, and then does this when everything else in the garden is dying back!

....and this giant head of blossoms is all on one stalk (the head alone is about 18" high)

6 comments:

  1. How'd you get your tulips before me,Tim? Must be a different source.

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  2. I have great luck with VanEngelen for bulbs, and Select Seeds for other things. I've tried some of the others, but have had some issues.

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  3. That is a beautiful one, I don't think I've seen that type before. It's loaded with flowers.

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  4. Tim, I have a question for you (as a pro). Have you ever heard of 'pinching' the T. astors back to shorten them?

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  5. I regularly chop back New England asters to control their size. I've always been told that you can keep cutting them until July 4th (at least in the Atlanta area) with no ill effects. T. astor is a new plant for me, so I've not tried it. I think I'm going to stake them next year, because I actually like their height in the fall garden.

    I've also been known to use big tomato cages on things like Swamp Sunflower (helianthus angustifolia), so would consider that, as well. Then I can put them in the beds early and forget about it. By doing it early, it avoids that "bondage" look, since the plants grow up and around them.

    Do you cut yours back?

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  6. This is one of my all time favorites. At 26, it was the aster that kept showing up in garden after garden I designed and planted. So glad to be reminded of a past and soon to be rediscovered favorite!

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