Asters are members of the largest plant family, the compositae (Daisy).  This month’s walk focuses again on the Main Border.  Begin your walk at the north tip where paths converge.  On the corner is the bright red-violet Aster ‘Winston Churchill’.  Apparently it is time to lift and divide this Aster, as it has become considerably shorter and smaller this year.  This will be an easy task come spring.  If you stand on the gravel path in this area looking up slope, the other asters in bloom are:  the screaming magenta ‘Andenken an Alma Potschke’, a novae-angliae aster and the pale pink ‘Harrington’s Pink’ also a novae angliae;  the pale violet ‘Marie Ballard’ and medium violet ‘Butterfly Blue’ which are both novi-belgii cultivars.  Also in this area is the lovely hardy Fuchsia ‘Pat’s Dream’ whose rose and lavender flowers repeat the aster colors in a different flower form.  Above are the branches of Rosa rubiginosa spangled with bright orange hips and underneath clumps of the grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ with the foxtail inflorescence.  Just coming into bloom in early October is a group of Aster pringlei ‘Monte Casino’ – originally developed for the cut flower trade.  It is a lovely ethereal white with soft small green foliage and a very upright habit.

Moving further along the border past two barberries in fruit (Berberis jamesiana and Berberis koreana) you will find Aster ‘Purple Monarch’ and a lovely mauve unknown (perhaps ‘Raspink’) and on the edge of the bed, the pale lavender species Aster sedifolius ‘Nana’.  Moving a bit further, look up to mid border and see the fine foliage and hundreds of tiny flowers of Aster ericoides ‘Ring Dove’ and slightly further south, two large masses of the sky blue Salvia uliginosa.  Now you can walk for awhile until you reach the first Acer Griseum.  This Acer (Maple) is companioned by Aster novae-angliae ‘Barr’s Blue’, a great performer, the Rosa x odorata ‘Mutablilis’ (Chinensis mutabilis), Verbena bonariensis (verbena on stilts) and a bit of Phygelius rectus ‘African Queen’ all woven together. 

Just a little further, below the variegated Pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana ‘Sunstripe’, is the perennial sunflower Helianthus salicifolius whose flowers smell like cheap chocolate.  A treat nonetheless, especially on warmer days.  Further along, as you reach the Hot Border (the southern corner) is the old classic Aster ‘Climax’ with nearly black stems and good lavender flowers at about five feet in height.

Now, round the bend, to start back up the grass slope, Fuchsia magellanica ‘Versicolor’ with its gray-green, cream and pink foliage that is very telling in the area, especially at this time of year.  The Aster here is the deep rose-flowered ‘September Ruby’, also Anemone japonica ‘Honorine Jobert’ anchors the corner.

Now you have reached the level part of the lawn.  Here at the edge of the Pink Section is the small white-flowered Aster ‘Sunset’, which also has lovely dark stems.  Behind it are large clumps of small flowered lavender pink A. ‘Little Carlow’.  “Little” refers to flower size, as a well-grown clump will be three feet wide by three to four feet tall.  Also, there is a large flowered pink Aster, another old favorite, ‘Coombe Fishacre’, a large white flowered, dark stemmed A. ‘White Climax’ and the Fuchsia ‘Chillerton Beauty’.  Beyond are the dark violet hoods of Aconitum ‘Carmichaelii’.  Worth mentioning are the still beautiful mounds of Variegated Purple Moor Grass ( Molinia caerulea ‘Variegata’) with their clear yellow stems lilting in the breeze.

Another five to six feet along, look deep into the border to see the very large single clump of Fallopia japonica ‘Crimson Beauty’ which at seven feet tall by ten feet wide is just coming into bloom, now with fluffy panicles of flowers more crimson each day.  Still in bloom (two plus months now) are large clusters of Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ a perennial sunflower with large pale yellow flowers.  Aster frikartii with pale yellow eyes and periwinkle blue petals has been blooming here since July as has Phygelius aequalis ‘Yellow Trumpet’ next to the edge of the lawn with pale yellow tubular flowers.  This Cape Fuchsia will bloom until perhaps November.

Now you are standing at the path that passes between two apple trees.  Move down the main path to the north (the Double Border area) to find another unknown pale blue Aster.  There is also Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’ whose flowers have changed color with the cooler weather to a clear blue with white eyes, another long blooming performer.  The little sprawling Aster just beyond has almost finished its bloom.  It is the species A. divaricatus, or the White Wood Aster, an Aster that prefers shade.  It is loveliest sprawling over its neighbors with its nearly black stems and bright white flowers.

Travel on past Fuchsias ‘Nancy’ on your right (a big girl) and ‘Little Giant’ on your left until you reach, on your left hand, the white botttlebrush inflorescenses of Cimicifuga simplex ‘White Pearl’ and its bright vertical companions Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ (grasses).

At the edge of the path is another great species Aster lateriflorus ‘Horizontalis’ with pink-eyed, pale mauve flowers by the thousands and compact dark foliage, a dependable beauty.