With their mass of tiny star-like flowers in subtle shades of pale mauve to dark purple, pinks to whites, autumn flowering asters are wonderful for keeping the colour going – often into late October. Now is a great time to treat yourself to some – ideally at least three of one variety for impact.
Here are some to try:
Aster x frikarii ‘Monch’ has large lavender mauve flowers and is unbeatable for length of flowering. A shorter variety (70cm) with good disease resistance.
Aster ‘Violetta’ is a tall Symphyotrichum novae-angliae has dark pinky purple flower and strong upright growth.
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Helen Picton’ is a wonderful mid-height dark purple aster.
Eurybia divaricata, also known as a white wood aster, has delicate clusters of tiny white flowers and striking dark stems. It’s lovely for lighting up shady areas and copes well with dry shade along with ferns.
Euybia x herveyi ‘Twilight’ is has pale lavender blue flowers and copes with some shade.
Asters look great with late flowering plants such as anemone, persicaria, rudbeckias and helianthus as well as ornamental grasses. Cut the stems back to the ground in autumn followed by a mulch.