I took so many photos of my Milady asters last summer that I bet I could share a photo a day for the rest of the year and not run out. The plants were absolutely stunning in my flowerbeds.
In addition to ‘Milady Lilac’ and ‘Milady Deep Blue’ I also grew ‘Milady Rose.’ The bright-pink flowers pair beautifully with purples like ageratum:
My favorite color to plant with ‘Milady Deep Blue’ is red. Here is ‘Milady Deep Blue’ with Zinnia ‘Dreamland Red’:
This clump of ‘Milady Deep Blue’ asters was planted in front of Celosia ‘Chinatown’:
I even grew some in a pot so I could enjoy them on the patio:
Milady asters are annuals that grow 10-12 inches tall with 3-inch chrysanthemum-like flowers. The plants will keep sending up new flowers all summer long if you keep them deadheaded. They grow best in full sun but will tolerate partial-shade. They are also drought-resistant.
I could easily consider them my favorite annual, but there are some drawbacks. The seeds are getting harder and harder to find which tells me this may be a variety on its way out. Also, bunnies think the plants are very tasty. Last summer the bunny population in my neighborhood was practically non-existent, so the asters really got a chance to shine. The year before when I grew them I had quite a few plants that were regularly nibbled to the ground. They rallied back hard, however, and still managed to bloom for much of the season.
We also didn’t get a lot of thunderstorms last summer. Most of our rain came in the form of gentle showers. When we finally did get a good thunderstorm late in the season I noticed that the Milady flowers acted a bit like sponges. They soaked up water and got top-heavy. Then either the flowers nodded and drooped or sometimes the whole plant tipped over.
And finally, they are susceptible to Aster yellows which can cause chlorosis or stunting. The disease can be further spread by leafhoppers. I had some ‘Milady White’ asters that developed Aster yellows, but thankfully the disease did not affect the other colors.
Even after all of those warnings I would still highly recommend these gorgeous plants:
