I know it looks fetching here: a solid blue cloud of aster flowers in late summer. Aster x novi-belgii 'Wood's Blue' was undoubtedly another pick of the great Portland Nurseryman who also developed the well known rooting hormone. I met Ed several decades ago when he was at his prime, and his summer aster has provided quite a few years of delight. The problem is...it keeps spreading and spreading. And the flower show is just a tad too short to justify the real estate.
So this year i shall be removing it. Not an easy decision! Does a week or two of cloudy blue splendor justify fifty weeks of blah? If I had several acres of garden, I might be happy to create a vignette combining this with a few other thugs in a sort of battle of wills...
For now the matted mass of foliage is still out there, and I am contemplating how and when this spring to do the dirty deed: as lovely as it looks in the picture, I can't really pawn it off on anyone else around here where it blooms for such a short period, so the plants will be composted. And then...what to do with all that wonderful space? Woo hooo!
So sad...they are stunning...but I agree...2 weeks out of 52 isn't great use of the space...what are your plans for the space?
ReplyDeleteEditing is the hardest part of any endeavor. Just keep your eye on the prize - all of that new garden real estate!
ReplyDeleteMaybe keep the clump in the front of the line and corral it with a circle of plastic underground to keep it from wandering. Or maybe try Aster turbinellus (I grew some from Prairie Moon seed), it doesnt run, looks great in fall and has decent foliage earlier on, and if you cut it back after flowering you can prevent seeding. It is a bit taller though.
ReplyDeleteErnie
Thank you all for sympathy and support? What to put in next...that's the fun part. Stay tuned!
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