Hi all, About three weeks ago I planted some clearance New England Asters from Bluestone Perennials. They are supposed to get 18" tall and bloom in late summer/ fall. Well, they are already getting buds now in June, and they are only 6-7" tall. I wonder if I need to pinch them like I do my mums?
Has anyone grown these, and can give a little advice?
I wonder if it will just take a year to get them "on schedule" haha.
Pinch back New England Asters like mums. General rule is to pinch until 4th of July and not after. Pinching gives more branching and flowers.
Hi JulieQ,
I have two New England asters that also started blooming in mid-June. This is their third year in the ground and they've never bloomed this early before--they always bloomed later in the summer and into fall. I haven't pinched the flowers--just left them to enjoy. It doesn't seem to be hurting the plants at all as they are still growing taller (they were only about 3-4 inches tall when they started blooming) and looking very healthy. They're both approximately 8-9 inches tall now. The blooms are slowing down now that our temps are in the high 90's (real feel 100-106). I guess we'll both get to see what happens with our asters. I'm wondering if it had anything to do with our once-every-ten-years extra cold winter we had because I've had some unusual things with other plants this year too.
