Fatsia or caster oil plant are evergreen shrubs or small trees. They have large leathery hand-shaped leaves and small creamy-white flowers which ar...
View full detailsAsters or Michaelmas daisies are perfect for late colour. They bear clusters of daisy flowers in an array of bright shades of blue, red and white in late summer and autumn.
These are perfect for creating the cottage garden theme or planting as part of a mixed border.
As the foliage can look a little unsightly sometimes, they are best suited to the middle / back of the border just so you can fully appreciate the flowers rather than the foliage. It's well worth it as the display in autumn is fabulous and will go on until the frost knocks them back for the winter.
Aster enjoy most soil types if the soil is well-drained.
As with most perennials grown for flower power they perform best in a sunny open site. They suffer with mildew in wet summers, but you can hide it well by planting them amongst other plants that will hide the ugly bits.
As they look a bit ugly when they go black, cut them back hard and in a mild winter you will get some new leaves through quite early on. The new leaves for the bulk of the growing season are particularly fresh lance shaped and perfect green.
If you can divide them in winter, every 4-5 years or if they get too big. They are easy to reproduce this way and you can give friends and family some of your divided clumps.
