The Plant Lover's Guide to Asters

Zusatztext “The Pictons are passionate experts in the field…Their book! The Plant Lover’s Guide to Asters recommends the best varieties and designs for different growing conditions! along with color combinations that work well! and in-depth advice on planting and maintenance.” — NYBG Plant Talk Informationen zum Autor Paul Picton is a specialist grower of autumn-flowering asters. Paul started working alongside his father, Percy, at Old Court Nurseries when he was sixteen and has been surrounded by asters his entire life. The Picton family continues to operate both Old Court Nurseries and the Picton Garden in Herefordshire, England. With more than fifty years of experience, Paul has a vast, irreplaceable knowledge of the genus. He has travelled all over the country to give horticultural talks and is well respected within the horticultural community. Paul is author of The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Asters . Helen Picton is a specialist grower of autumn-flowering asters. The Picton family operates Old Court Nurseries and the Picton Garden in Herefordshire, England. The nursery was established in 1906 by Ernest Ballard, the first nurseryman to popularize autumn-flowering asters. The Pictons hold the Plant Heritage National Plant Collection of autumn-flowering asters, with more than four hundred forms present in the collection. Helen joined the business after completing a botany degree at the University of Reading, and has since then been working full time with the asters. She also lectures and gives talks throughout the United Kingdom. Klappentext Asters are the ultimate easy-to-grow, late-season plants. They produce daisy-shaped flowers in gorgeous rich shades of pink, purple, and blue and excel in a wide range of garden conditions, lending themselves to formal and naturalistic gardens alike. Paul and Helen Picton have been growing asters for decades and recommend the most garden-worthy species and varieties along with tips for growing, propagating, and designing with these rewarding plants. The Plant Lover’s Guide books offer a rich source of information on both new and classic garden plants. Written by enthusiastic experts, they recommend the best varieties for different situations, inspire ideas for new plant combinations, and are packed with resources for the home gardener. These gorgeous guides celebrate the beauty of each plant and form a comprehensive library that every plant lover will want to own. Introduction: Why We Love Asters In this book, we hope to introduce you to the fantastic world of asters, arguably the ultimate easy-to-grow plants, providing late-season colour for plant lovers in temperate regions around the world. Asters bring to life the garden designer’s dream of soft-coloured autumnal mists, sweeping gently through the landscape.      Gardeners are undoubtedly among the luckiest people, particularly in having such a wide choice of plants readily available to allow indulgence in their passion. The large numbers of asters offered by commercial sources can make the job of choosing a few varieties to grow a lengthy, sometimes confusing, but invariably pleasurable experience.      Whether your planting scheme is formal, more naturalistic, or even truly wild, it is easy to find asters to suit it. Varieties of Symphyotrichum novi-belgii , for instance, with their dense mass of flowers, lend themselves to a more formal setting, as do the large-flowered European asters where their more compact habits can be put to good use. Smaller flowered species and cultivars can be easily incorporated into naturalistic planting schemes, where a billowing cloud of flowers blurs the formal lines of borders and clumps. Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’, with its generous sprays of lavender-blue flowers, is extensively used in this way; S. ‘Ochtendg...

Product details

• Authors: Helen Picton, Paul Picton, Paul/ Picton Picton
• Publisher: Timber Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.03.2015
• EAN: 9781604695182
• ISBN: 978-1-60469-518-2
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Plant Lover's Guides; Plant Lover's Guides; Plant Lover S Guides; The Plant Lover’s Guides
• Subject: Guides > Nature > Garden