I love the big, bumptious, fast-spreading asters in my garden. There is ‘Alma Potschke’, often written about and even more often spotted in every single one of my garden beds. I know she is officially an “it”, but calling her “she” seems more logical. ‘Alma’ self-seeds as if she thinks extinction is just around the … Read more
There was a time when I had no asters in my front garden. Then I planted one small pot of tall, pink-flowered ‘Alma Potschke’ asters. ‘Alma’ prospered—so much so that now, if I didn’t pull out the seedlings every year, I would have hundreds of ‘Alma Potschke’offspring. Not only do I pull out the seedlings, … Read more
I have started the great cut-back. The scores of tall aster ‘Alma Potschke’ have mostly finished their dramatic run of pink and purple fireworks and now stand ready to reseed themselves everywhere. Birds will take some of that seed, but if I don’t get ‘Alma’ under control, I will have lots of grubbing out to … Read more
The tall asters that dominate my front garden used to be known to dirt gardeners and botanists alike as “asters.” Botanists and plant taxonomists now call them Symphyotrichum, a name that makes simple plants sound complicated and inaccessible. Everyone else still calls them asters. I hope the plant taxonomists will take the hint and rescind … Read more
I used to think there was no earthly use for perilla (Perilla frutescens). No garden since the beginning of time has ever had just one plant. True to its mint family heritage, perilla spreads and spreads and spreads. Of course, it is quite decorative, with its purple-black ruffled leaves, but some of the similarly colored … Read more
