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Ampelaster carolinianus

 
Ampelaster carolinianus
Last flower of the year
climbing aster
First flowers of the following year, late May
Ampelaster carolinianus
In its element in mid-October

Synonym(s) Aster carolinianus
Common name climbing aster
Family asteraceae
Life cycle woody perennial (Z6-10)
Flowers lavender
Size vine to 12'
Light sun

Woody vine covered in lavender daisy flowers in autumn. Native to the southeastern United States. When I purchased mine, I wasn't sure it was going to work very well at our fence – it doesn't have a twining habit, suction cups, or any other obvious way to climb. Yet it happily took advantage of some wooden slats tacked to the fence as a make-shift trellis, and proceeded to grow almost entirely upward; I cut off the bits that want to extend too far forward. The fabulous flower show doesn't come till mid-October, but the rest of the growing season its green mass is still much nicer to look at than the privacy fence behind it.

climbing aster
Growth spurt, early April
Ampelaster carolinianus
A bit of a mess after it was first planted from its nursery pot
climbing aster
A happy tangle in late summer of its second year

In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: back fence border

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