Day 280: Symphyotrichum turbinellum

Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year

‘Aster’ was so much easier to get your North and South around, wasn’t it? Still, Symphyotrichum it is these days (for at least the Michaelmas daisy types), such as S. turbinellum, though aster will do just as well in all but the most pernickety* of company. This particular aster is a favourite, appearing on the scene right at the end of the growing season to floof out the borders with joyful clouds of small, lilac flowers with yellow centres. It’s a strong grower and somewhat top-heavy so, on all but the poorest of soils, it’s going to need staking, unless you give it a particularly severe Chelsea Chop at the end of May which will give you shorter and even later-flowering, but sturdier plants.

*talking of pernickety, should this have an ‘S’ in the middle? Only across the pond from where I sit, apparently, where our North American friends decided the original Scottish dialect word needed a little sibilance to make it zing.

---

A year of garden coaching

To find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details and add your name to the waiting list to be the first to hear when enrolment opens up again for the spring.

---

Click here to sign up for daily #gardeninspo365 posts and blog updates direct to your inbox.

---

Sign up for the monthly newsletter below

---

About

Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, blogger, podcaster, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking the image above.