GROWING ASTER WITH EARTHWORMS

ASTER / Aster Species / Michaelmas Daisy
Aster produce daisy-like flowers with many narrow petals, it is a very important late season food source for butterflies, providing an excellence source of nectar.

CLASSIFICATION OF ASTER:

Perennial
There are more than 600 species of true asters. A. amellus/italian aster-2 feet tall, violet, yellow centered blooms 2 inches acrossA. Carolinianus/climbing aster-unusual climber 10 to 20 feet, fall blooming, pink flower; A. cordifolius/blue wood aster-6feet tall, blue blooms; A. divaricatus/white wood aster-plant will thrive in shade, will small pure white flowers; A.frikartii/frikart’s aster/wonder of staffa-2.5 feet, sparse weedy looking foliage, daisy-like, lavander-blue flowers with lots of narrow petals; A. novaeangliiae/new england aster/alma potschke-3 feet, sparse weedy looking foliage, daisy-like, rose pink flowers with lots of narrow petals; A.novi-belgii/new york aster/audrey-16 inches, sparse weedy looking foliage, daisy-like, lavander-blue flowers with lots of narrow petals; A. tartaricus-giant 5 to 7 feet tall with 2 feet foliage, one inch wide blue flower.

SIZE:                                      1 to 4 feet
BLOOM TIME:                     Late summer to autumn
LIGHT:                                   Full sun
TIME TO PLANT:               Early spring
COLORS:                               Purple, pink, blue, lavander and red with yellow center
SOIL TYPE:                           Well drained average fertility
PLANT DEPTH:                   3 to 6 inches to cover the roots        
HARDINESS:                        Zones 1-24

HOW TO PLANT AND CARE FOR ASTER:
Plant aster in the mid-section or at the back of your garden beds and borders, depending on their height; you may plant some high foliage plants in front of the aster. Water regularly, stake plants as they grow and pinch back stems to make them thicker and encourage more blooms.

HOW TO DO THE ORGANIC MIX FOR ASTER AND THE USE OF EARTHWORMS:
The following is a simple organic mixture for bedding of Aster.
1 part peat moss. 1 part other organic material such as earthworm castings, compost. Leaf mold or Nitrogen stabilized bark.  1 part builders’ sand.
Dig and amend the soil with above mix, plant the Aster into this soil. After planting and covering the aster roots with this mix, immediately water thoroughly. Dig a small ½ inch hole beside the plant the next day and put a dozen live earthworms into it, then cover the earthworm with soil so that birds won’t come and pick them up right away.

HOW TO PROPAGATE ASTER:
For best bloom, divide asters every two to three years in early spring. Discard the old, woody, central parts of the clumps. Immediately replant the divided vigorous, young, outer sections of the plant in sunny backside of your garden bedding. Stake plants as they grow and pinch back them stems to make them thicker and encourage more blooms. Another way of to propagate Aster is to plant seed: Let the Aster flowers to dry and produce seed heads. When it turns dark and dry cut the dried flower seed head in a paper bag in a cool dry place. After a week or two in the bag, the seed head should be dry enough to loosen, pour contents of the bags into a bowl to separate the seeds from the chaffs, then store the seeds in an air-tight container or plastic bag for germination indoor, in early spring.