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Aster x frikartii
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Posted by calypso UK (My Page) on Mon, Sep 24, 07 at 7:16
| I used to grow what I thought was aster frikartii -- it was about 2-3 ft tall, didn't need staking had flowers about 1 1/2 inches across with uneven petals and used to flower from August until late September/October. Sadly I tried to split it and it objected and disappeared completely the following winter. I have tried to replace it several times but the replacements have either not survived the winter or been very lax in habit with smaller, more delicate flowers. So now I wonder whether I had A Thomsonii originally -- but I thought that was shorter ? Or is this plant just very variable ? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Aster x frikartii
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Considering how thuggishly some of them can behave, I find they can die suddenly without any warning.
I had a lovely one called Sailor Boy - almost a fluorescent bluey purple- but it didn't show up this spring.
Why not look round the nurseries over the next month when they should be flowering and you can pick one that looks like you want it to look - regardless of what the label says! |
RE: Aster x frikartii
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I have another explanation, maybe. Asters are usually sold in bloom, and in autumn...bad idea indeed!
Most of them are just babies-of-the-year, young cuttings that have not become woody enough to survive their first winter when planted immediately in the open.
Especially if your garden is very damp in winter.
I have lost a number of them in my early gardening years, because of this.
A few years ago I decided I would only plant them in spring.
So I started re-potting my young asters bought in autumn, in pots twice as large as their original small ones, in a mixture of garden soil, garden mix and compost, and leave them spend their first winter in a protected place on the garden (many pots closely arranged, under a line of hazelnut trees which protect them from the main wind).
Then planted them the next spring.
I have never lost an aster since (or maybe just one!)
This might be the reason why you can't establish a new A. frikartii since.
And it is true that Frikart's asters often resent being divided.
Hope this helps...
Zephirine |
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