Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii, Aster dumosus ‘Sapphire’ & Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’
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IMG_0484 Rudbeckia ful. deamiiThis Rudbeckia really brightens up the autumn borders with its bright yellow daisy flowers and brown nose protruding, to attract the finches later on in the season! This plant has just recently started flowering for me and will go on into November, provided our winter doesn’t come too early – pretty please!!! It loves a good moist soil, in full sun – if your soils drier try mulching with bark or home made compost to keep the moisture in, and it will repay you with these gorgeous blooms, just at the time of year when we all need a bit of colour to cheer us up as the dark nights start drawing in! Grows 2 – 3′ on average. Propogation – will come true from seed, but you can also split and divide (Autumn or spring) to make more plants! The RHS awarded this plant an AGM. (Award of Garden Merit)

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Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’ seen growing here with Aster dumosus ‘Sapphire’ and Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’, which I find a nice complimentary blend! The Aster should apparently only grow to around 16″, but mine is approx. twice that size! It is growing well and better still – mildew free!

The Solidago or to give it its more common name ‘Goldenrod ‘also enjoys the same growing conditions as the others. It is  a nice eye-catching cultivar with yellow flower clusters streaming out in all directions – just like fireworks! This has only grown to around 4′ this year – it can normally reach up to 6’, but the dry summer months have kept it a bit lower than normal! Some members of this family are real thugs, and will take over the garden, but this is much slower to spread, and easy to split and divide! Also loved by bees and butterflies – another plus!

Believe it or not – these three plants all belong to the one family – Asteraceae!

Aster dumosus 'Sapphire'

Aster dumosus ‘Sapphire’

 


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