Show Notes
In this encore episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne shares tips for choosing fall mums and asters. Topics covered in this week's episode: Chrysanthemums, many horticultural varieties and cultivars exist including tender florist mums (a favourite of mine because of how long they stay blooming in a vase). Or Garden mums, more commonly known as fall mums. All Chrysanthemums are native to East Asia and Northeastern Europe. They became popular in North American gardening during the early to mid-20th century. Overall, fall or autumn gardening in the U.S. became particularly prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. Their popularity grew thanks to their vibrant colours of mums—ranging from deep reds and oranges to yellows and purples—this made them a popular choice for fall displays. Their ability to bloom late into the season and withstand cooler temperatures also contributed to their popularity in autumn gardening. Fall mums grown for our gardens are fertilized and pruned heavily to maintain their dense growth while in containers. It is possible to overwinter them in the garden but without regular maintenance, they can get quite large (tall and wide over a season or two). You often hear of gardeners or articles mentioning mid-summer to cut back or pinch back the foliage on garden mums that are being grown in the garden to slow down their growth and size. If growing in the garden, they benefit from mulching to protect them from the freeze and thaw most of us experience in our Ontario gardens or gardens in zones 4-6. They can be prone to spider mites and aphids as well as powdery mildew. Mildew especially if they are allowed to get large in the garden and then crowd with other plants and especially when there is high humidity and/or overhead watering. The downside of mums: As a designer, my goal is to create gardens that are all season with something happening at all times and for there really not be a need for high-maintenance annuals. I do realize that there are times and places in the yard where one might want a pop of colour -- even me! Potted mums perform much better in cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, garden centres seem to start selling them earlier and earlier each season. They are thirsty plants when in pots, especially in the heat. If the pots aren't watered regularly they die very quickly and I think homeowners think they can revive them. Once they have dried out, they are a throwaway plant. Don't get me started on the plastic waste they generate!
A better plant option for fall: asters! There are 32 different species of aster in Ontario and over 100 species in North America. There is a place for one in every garden or even a pot if you choose! While some pollinators might visit garden mums for pollen that is where the benefit ends. Asters not only supply pollen for honeybees and native bees, they also feed adult butterflies and we all want more of those in our gardens. They are host plants or over 100 species of caterpillars, nature's bird feeders. Where there are caterpillars, there will be birds! You may be lucky to find New England asters in pots at your big box store. They are transplantable and will overwinter in the garden.
In addition to the New England asters, there are several other native varieties that are sold in the perennial section of your garden centres. There is a variety of aster for every garden. New England Asters Symphyotrichum novaeangliae: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, blooms August to October, moist average soil. Swamp Aster Symphyotrichum puniceum: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, August to October, wet garden area White Wood Eurybia divaricate: Part shade to full shade, September to October and will grow in a garden from moist to dry. Heart Leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium: (lavender to light blue) Part shade to full shade, September to October, medium to dry soil
Note: It is also recommended to pinch back or cut back asters in June to prevent
More from Down The Garden Path Podcast
Is your garden soil giving your plants everything they need to thrive? Last November, Joanne welcomed Amy Ellard-Gray to the podcast to explore why soil testing is one of the smartest steps you can take toward a healthier garden. Discover how understanding your soil can help you solve plant problems, avoid costly mistakes and take the guesswork out of gardening. About Amy Amy runs The Hobby Homestead in suburban Guelph, where she cultivates over 100 varieties of native plants to support the local ecosystem. Through her YouTube channel, Instagram, website, and in-person consultations, she helps people design and troubleshoot their own food-growing spaces. Her mantra, "growing food in harmony with nature," guides everything she does, from tending soil life to welcoming wildlife into the garden. Topics discussed in this episode: Understanding Your Soil: Why Testing Matters: Amy and Joanne discuss why healthy gardens start with healthy soil and explore the benefits of professional soil testing. Building Healthy Soil for Better Gardening Results: From choosing quality triple mix to using compost, mulch and organic matter, Joanne and Amy share practical ways to improve soil health. They also discuss raised beds, container gardening, crop rotation and how working with nature can create healthier, more productive gardens with less maintenance. Growing More Food in Small Spaces: Amy explains how thoughtful planning, good soil and sustainable gardening practices can help homeowners grow more food, even in smaller yards, raised beds and containers. Find The Hobby Homestead at www.thehobbyhomestead.com and on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down the Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has designed beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.
Have you ever wished you could save your favourite annuals instead of replacing them every spring? In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw shares three ways to save your annuals, from bringing entire plants indoors to growing new plants from cuttings and storing dormant tubers. Learn which methods work best for popular plants like coleus, geraniums, begonias and million bells, along with practical tips for keeping them healthy through the winter. It's a great way to stretch your gardening budget and give some of your favourite plants a second season. Topics discussed: How to Save Your Annuals Over the Winter Many annuals can survive the winter indoors and grow again next spring. Joanne explains how to bring plants inside, prepare them for dormancy and care for them through the colder months. Three Methods for Overwintering Annuals Learn how to save annuals by keeping the whole plant indoors, propagating new plants from cuttings or storing dormant tubers and bulbs. Discover which methods work best for plants such as coleus, geraniums, begonias, million bells and cigar plants. Save Money and Grow More Plants Next Spring Overwintering annuals can help reduce gardening costs while giving you more plants to enjoy or share. Get practical tips for managing light, watering, humidity and temperature. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden h3>Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.
Is October really the time to cut everything back and put the garden to bed? Not necessarily. In this episode, we've gathered some of Joanne's best tips for October in the garden. She shares why October can actually be one of the easiest months, with just a few simple tasks to focus on and plenty you can leave alone. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Do less this fall: There's no need for a major fall cleanup. Most perennials can be left standing, leaf litter can remain, and spent plant material provides a winter habitat for beneficial insects. Prepare for next year: October is a good time to assess the garden, take photos, identify gaps, water newly planted trees and shrubs deeply, mulch fallen leaves into the lawn, and plant garlic. Bulbs and lawn care: Discover why you should buy spring bulbs now but wait until late October or November to plant them. Learn more about fall lawn care, including reseeding, leaving grass taller, fertilizing and dealing with weeds. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect via her website at down2earth.ca. Are you a landscape or gardening expert? We'd love to have you on the show! Click here to learn more. Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.
Not sure what to do with your roses this fall? This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne is joined by master gardener and author Cauleen Viscoff to talk about making rose care a little less intimidating. They cover fall rose care, winter preparation, planting and moving roses, climbing roses, common pests and, of course, pruning. Cauleen also shares the story behind her upcoming book, Pruning Roses: From Mystery to Mastery, and why understanding how a rose grows is the key to knowing how to prune it. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Fall Rose Care and Winter Preparation: Why fall is not the time for major pruning, how mulch can help, when winter protection is actually necessary, and why choosing hardy roses suited to your zone makes a big difference. Choosing, Planting and Growing Roses Successfully: Learn more about hardy shrub roses, carpet roses, hybrid teas and climbing roses, including companion planting, moving roses in fall, proper watering and how to train climbing roses for better flowering. Taking the Mystery Out of Rose Pruning: Cauleen explains how learning the different growth habits of roses makes pruning much easier and shares how her own sketches became the foundation for her upcoming book and pruning reference cards. To learn more about Cauleen and her upcoming book, visit lush-gardens.com. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.
Have you considered adding native ornamental grasses to your garden? They're often overlooked but add colour, texture, and movement while providing food and shelter for birds and other wildlife. This week on the podcast, Joanne takes a closer look at a few standout varieties that can bring interest to the garden well beyond the summer months. Some of the topics covered in this week's episode: Why Native Ornamental Grasses Belong in the Garden How native grasses add structure, movement and seasonal interest while also providing food and shelter for birds and other wildlife. Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem and Their Cultivars Joanne compares these native grasses and highlights varieties such as Standing Ovation, Blackhawks and Red October, including their size, colour and growth habits. Getting More Seasonal Value from Ornamental Grasses Leave grasses standing through fall and winter for visual interest, wildlife benefits, and stronger garden structure. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.