Rob's plants home garden plants wildlife seed photos plant sale journal topics plantlinks fun guestbook Symphyotrichum sp.

 

Family asteraceae Life cycle perennial Size 6' Cultural notes moist-wet soil From seed germinate at room temperature, do not exclude light detailed seed-starting info below Seed ripens early November I don't know exactly what species this will be. I got the seed from James in Ohio, who wrote: This is a BIG plant; the flowering stems were just over six feet tall. The flowers are about the size of a half dollar and have numerous, thin rays of a pale sky blue color with a touch of violet. The seeds need no cold treatment, but are rather slow. This species is mostly aquatic, but it will grow anywhere moist. Writing now in early September of their second year in our garden - last year, we planted a few in a large pot in our pond, and a couple in a neglected area of our orchard. Plants survived in both places, and have now sent up tall stalks, that appear to be heading towards bloom. October update - both clumps are blooming. The flowers are quite nice by themselves - just what you'd expect from a close relative of asters (many asters have recently been recharacterized as symphyotrichums). On the other hand, the foliage, which was decent-looking if a bit ordinary most of the year, has gotten rather ugly. Conclusion: not the most gardenworthy asteroid, but OK tucked in between other tall wildflowers.

floppy and brown

Another unidentified aster species, this one left behind as a gift from a fellow gardener during a garden tour, identified only as "tall blue aster", with a note it attracts butterflies. It started blooming in early October, and looks particularly nice in this autumn combination with maiden grass, early November.

We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston.

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Seed-starting details for this plant

2005. Seed from '04 trade. Baggy 70F (25%G, 7-21d) - 70F with light (60%G, 3-16d)

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