My Corner Online
Stokesia laevis 'Divinity' | Stoke's Aster
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Asters range from 8 inches to 8 feet tall. I am putting the shorter asters on this page, being the ones under 24 inches in height. New York Asters (Aster novi-belgii) tend to be shorter than New England Asters. Taller Asters are on page 71.
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First bloom dates:
2024 May 21
Stokesia laevis 'Divinity' | Stoke's Aster
Asteraceae (Daisy and Sunflower Family) (Pronounced ass-ter-AY-see-eye )
Pronounced sto-KEES-ee-ah LIE-viss
The name "Stokesia" is to honor the English physician and botanist Jonathan Stokes (1755-1831).
The name "laevis" means "smooth."
These blooms are white and for the longest time I could not remember the name of these flowers, so I always called them "the white flowers." The white flowers must be the "Divinity" cultivar as I see other Stoke's Asters are violet.
The flowers are notched rays around a pincushion center. They are fluffy and cornflower-like. The center starts out with a tinge of yellow and turns whiter.
Likes full sun, but will tolerate partial shade.
When I think of Aster, I think of an Autumn blooming plant, but these are blooming in the late Spring.
Deadheading these flowers encourages them to bloom again. Sometimes the flowers rebloom in the Autumn.
After blooming is done, the plant can be cut back to the basal leaves.
Some people say they are "stoked for Stoke's!"
The Stokes Aster is considered a heritage flower in cottage gardens. The plant was popular in old gardens
Plants can be divided in the Spring to propagate.
My tag says this was planted June of 2022, but I think it may have been 2021 and I found hubby stuck the tab in the ground when he planted in 2022. He did that sometimes and it drove me batty.
2024
2022
It was MUCH smaller in this garden bed before I moved it in 2024. This is closer to the 18 inches on the tag.
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I have planted two other Asters that are short that I believe my hubby immediately weeded as weeds the next year, so I no longer have them, but I wish I did!
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Aster hybrida 'Dragon' PP15906 | Dragon Hybrid Aster
The plant is 18 to 24 inches tall and has lavender-blue flowers.
Aster hybrids are created through breeding different species of asters together in order to create new varieties with unique characteristics. Dragon hybrid asters are inspired by the mythical creature known as the dragon, which represents strength, beauty, and resilience.
Dragon hybrid asters typically have thicker stems and bigger flowers. Their flowers are often a deep, rich purple or blue, with a star shape that is reminiscent of dragon's claws. Ballard decided to use Aster amellus as one of the parent plants in his hybridization experiments, with the goal of creating a new variety of aster with dragon-like foliage. He crossbred Aster amellus with Aster novi-belgii. After several generations of hybridization, Ballard was able to produce a plant that had the striking foliage of Aster amellus combined with the colorful blooms of Aster novi-belgii. This new variety was named the dragon hybrid aster, in honor of the plant that had inspired its creation.
2020
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2020
Aster novi-belgii 'Pink Magic | Aster 'Pink Magic' PPAF | Pink Magic Aster, New York Aster
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii 'Wood's Pink' - Is this synonymous?
The plant is 18 to 24 inches tall and has pink flowers.
The words "novi-belgii" mean literally New Belgium, which is not the Belgium we are familiar with, but rather the Dutch colony in the 1600's called "new Netherland" which was established on land that is now part of the State of New York.
This flower almost looks like a mum! Chrysanthemums, or mums, include over 200 species of the aster family. So all mums are asters, but not all asters are mums.
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The dwarf, shorter purple asters are generally in the New York aster group and include:
Wood’s Purple – Semi-double purple flowers with yellow centers
Purple Dome – Lavender-purple flowers; forms a small dome or mound
Professor Anton Kippenberg – Deeply blue-purple, long-lasting blooms
Alpine – early bloomer
Lady in Blue- Light purplish blue blooms
Raydon’s Favorite – fragrant foliage