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Bv DR. DIANE RELF
Rappahannock New« Contributing Writer
For added floral interest in perennial beds and borders, incorporate plants which bloom in fall. The plants featured below are hardy perennials which you will want to try in your landscape for late season color.
Fall asters, often called Michaelmas daisies, bloom during autumn in shades of pink, blue, and white. Use masses of white between blue cultivars to heighten their impact.
Taller varieties (up to six feet) may be planted to hide fences or as a background for lower perennials. They should be stacked or tied to the fence. Shorter asters (as low as six inches) do well in low borders and rock gardens.
Asters are at home anywhere from a naturalistic planting to the side of a barn or garage. They can be used effectively in perennial borders.
Divide large clumps in spring and reset plants in your border. Asters grow best in full sun, but will bloom brightly in partial shade. Plants grow rapidly in almost any soil.
Many cultivars of chrysanthemums are hardy, but they do not always live through a hard winter without some protection. Mums sold as flowering house plants are often not hardy. Even hardy varieties may require such a long, warm season to flower that you rarely get blooms.
So it is best to start with chrysanthemum divisions which have overwintered successfully in your locality. Get them from friends or buy cultivars from garden centers and nurseries.
To increase the plant’s ability to overwinter, mums should be cut back to within a few inches of the ground after a hard freeze and covered with evergreen boughs.
Mums are at their best where autumns are long and warm. They are easy to grow and will flower for many weeks. They come in all colors except blue. Varieties vary widely in height, flower size and form, and time of bloom. Low growing “cushion” mums average 15 inches in height and require the least work.
For maximum bushiness, all but the cushion types are pinched back until mid-July. Pinch out the soft growing tip of each shoot when it reaches four to six inches in length.
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