43. La collection des asters

When a flower allows a garden to stay in bloom almost into winter, the cultivation of this flower should be widely encouraged, and even though the aster doesn’t measure up to the radiance and size of some chrysanthemums, it still contributes to illuminating and embellishing the places in which its less hardy rival may not be able to spread its flowers so well.

The aster is a perennial plant that generally blooms in summer and autumn. Its name is of Greek origin and comes from the shape of its flowers, which resemble a star or a small sun.

Whether they are native to Europe, North America or Asia, these botanical species come in a plethora of blue, purple, pink and white horticultural varieties. Be that as it may, not many plant families have undergone as many changes in botanical classification, because over the past years, molecular research on plant DNA have led scientists to question the Aster genus and the botanical name of a great number of plants has been changed. In 2006, this modification was adopted in the official Flora of North America , and in the Flora of China in 2011. In 2015, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) decided to include these changes in their famous annual guide Plant Finder.

Our collection of asters includes botanical species and horticultural varieties with extremely diverse heights and growth types, that are in bloom from the spring until the end of autumn.