Tips, tricks & buys: GARDEN notes

Late-season colour and inspiration

- CHRIS MORLEY

ASTER LA VISTA!

Easy-going asters are a must-grow for late-season colour, flowering from August to the end of October. Available in pink, blue, purple and white, they form clouds of colour. For high contrast, try smoky mauve Aster novi-belgii ‘Purple Dome’ (50cm high) with yellow-bronze rudbeckias. For a softer look, lavender-blue ‘Little Carlow’ works beautifully with buff or golden grasses, like miscanthus.

APPLE HARVEST