New England Asters 1st year

May 2018: I didn't have any asters last summer and I do not see sprouts this year either. I have a lot of vegetation probably out competing them.

I ordered some seedlings (4) from ebay in spring 2015. They did great (zone 7)! I'm anticipating the plants to expand bloom beautifully each fall from now on.  These are native to the area. The flowers are a light lavender.

                                                                      June 2015

I pinched inside the centers of the stems to encourage more branching out. This may have made the flowers smaller, but I'm not sure. I'll experiment next year.

                                                    Preparing to bloom, mid to late summer.

   Closeup, getting ready for full bloom. The branches are numerous because of pinching.

Add caption

Starting its bloom. The 'bush' is about 2.5x3. The zinnias had been blooming for a bit. This is probably early to mid August. I was beginning to wonder if my asters would ever bloom!

              The asters bloomed! Wow. The plants were covered in flowers even in October.

The flowers were very popular with these little butterflies. The flowers and butterflies were only about 1 inch in size.