Question raised on the mums thread:

Frillylily said:I'd like to know if there are any asters that are really a true blue color that do not get more than 18-24 " tall? Do asters reseed like crazy? Do they come back every year or just reseed?

I grew Peter III and really liked it. It was truly blue, had fairly large double flowers, and was a nice, short globe-shaped mound.


New York Aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii 'Peter III')

http://www.lucasgreenhouses.co...

Sadly, asters aren't very long-lived in my garden, so this one is just a memory now.

I think the hybrid bedding asters are usually sterile and don't set seed.

Thank you for starting this thread!
I think that is a pretty aster. well I am zone 6 so they probably would perform similarly for me here. It would be nice to have something that reseeded and so would always be in the garden and yet at the same time not reseed to the point it was invasive. I guess that is where deadheading would come in. Most of the asters I've seen advertised as blue though turned out to be purple, and I think the blue would be pretty. I have a notion that just like the mums, the asters would do better planted in the garden in the spring, not fall, so they have time to establish before winter. I think that is true of coneflowers as well. I guess in an area with more mild winters that may not be as much of an issue.

I just found this article describing six native asters for a wide variety of conditions: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks...

Some of them are not all that showy, but all of them are good for pollinators of one kind or another.

Asters usually last a couple years in my garden if we do not have a winter like we had last year. The way I find the blue ones is checking all the nurseries this time of year. They usually have blue. I found that if you find a really deep purple one and plant it with the purplish ones it makes the blue one really stand out as blue.

Do a eye trick.

I picked this one up at the grocery store last year and it was close to blue.


I planted this one next to it and it made the almost blue one look bluer.

Those are pretty, you are in the same zone as me-you say they only last about 2 yrs or so- I thought they would be back every year.

You're right, Cinta. Amazing how one color affects another.

Here the asters enjoy being high and dry so maybe it's a plant that just doesn't want all the rain.

pirl said:You're right, Cinta. Amazing how one color affects another.

Here the asters enjoy being high and dry so maybe it's a plant that just doesn't want all the rain.

Pretty!

And YAY! Monarchs!


I allowed a native-type aster to grow in a bed along the garage this year. Thankfully it's not another plain white one, but more of a light sky-blue. Very tiny blooms, but interesting nonetheless, and the pollinators love it.

Ours have so many bees that shows what a bee magnet it is. I love any butterflies.

so do you pinch asters back like you do mums or just let them grow? do they only bloom in the fall? I had a mum once that bloomed in the spring and I cut it back and it bloomed again, are asters like that?

The one I let grow was cut several times early-on with the lawnmower and it's much fuller than usual, so I'd say yes. If you don't take it back to a terminal growth point each time you might get smaller and more numerous flowers. I'm not a good plant pincher. Normally, mine have to be grazed by something, broken by wind or whacked by mistake to get "pinched".

Here's that light blue one I mentioned in a previous post.

Very pretty!

Yes, pinch them. I use garden shears because there are too many to pinch. They do not bloom twice a year, just once and that's now until frost for our garden.

chelle said:The one I let grow was cut several times early-on with the lawnmower and it's much fuller than usual, so I'd say yes. If you don't take it back to a terminal growth point each time you might get smaller and more numerous flowers. I'm not a good plant pincher. Normally, mine have to be grazed by something, broken by wind or whacked by mistake to get "pinched".

Here's that light blue one I mentioned in a previous post.

I have that one growing on my hillside. It is a pretty blue. I wish mine was as thick as your bush.

Most of the ones growing here aren't, so I'd definitely have to attribute this ones fullness to the fact that it was cut back, and also due to the fact that it was directly downhill of the pampered potted plants sitting on the log above it. I'm betting it made good use of any nutrients and extra water that filtered out of that container.

It still looks nice, especially so now that frosts have thinned out some of my other plants.

A couple Asters still going around here.