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Harbingers of Fall - Part III - Asters, Part 1, Etc.

© Marge Talt

The tall varieties will need sturdy staking and, unless you have a really short growing season, it's a good idea to cut or pinch them back when the shoots reach six inches (15 cm) and again during early summer to encourage them to become bushy and compact. Most asters will start blooming sometime in August and many will continue into October and November, in the northern hemisphere.

Hundreds of hybrids and cultivars have been developed, primarily from crosses between and among A. novi-belgi, A. novae-angliae, A. dumosus, A. ericoides and A. laevis species. I have only two hybrids; one has a blue flower and no name — it was a "bonus" plant with one of my plant orders several years ago — and one has a dark pink flower and no name. I can't even remember where it came from! Both are tall and, I would guess, of the novi-belgi type.

I also grow several species. Some are native and just show up here and there. I leave them if they aren't in my way and I haven't made much effort to properly identify them. I have bought three species, of which I am quite fond:

• Aster lateriflorus "Horizontalis" (Calico Aster) is my very favorite. A. lateriflorus has a branched crown or stout rhizome, forming a steadily increasing clump. The species is native from Canada to Minnesota, south to Florida, Missouri and Texas. New growth looks much like any aster, but as the summer progresses, it begins to branch out forming a mass of twiggy stems and becoming very shrublike. Depending on location, it can reach two or three feet in height and a bit more in spread — the habit is arching and layered, rather than vertical. It prefers sun, but will grow in half shade, where it does not make as generous a mound. It does well in either moist or dry conditions. The leaves have a purple-green cast to start, turning wine and becoming smaller as they progress up the branches.

  Thousands of tiny, 1/4 inch (0.635 cm) daisies cover the plant from late August or early September until frost, in my garden. The overall flower appearance is wine and mauve, but if you examine one of the flowers closely, you will see that the petals are actually an off-white and the centers wine-colored. This plant sets copious seed and once you have it, you never have to want for it. I pull many seedlings each year, but I love it so much I really don't mind. You can also propagate by division in early spring. A. lateriflorus is rated hardy from USDA zones 3 or 4 to 8 or 9.