SYMPHYOTRICHUM laeve 'Calliope'

Description

Symphyotrichum laeve 'Calliope'

Height x Spread: 170cm x 60cm

A lofty Michaelmas daisy that is smothered with lots of small pale lilac-purple flowers in autumn all held on a dark structure of branching stems with fine leaves.  Each flower is studded with a yellow centre, which once pollinated turns red directing the pollinators onto another bloom - rather clever! 

Semi-transparent, it is a good way of adding see-through pops of colour to a cottage garden but really sings out against a dark background of evergreen shrubs or hornbeam hedge.  Alternatively mix it with tall ornamental grasses for a prairie style naturalistic look.  Tough and hardy throughout the UK, it can even cope with the salt laden air of coastal sites.  It performs best in sun or part shade in any fairly fertile, reasonable soil i.e. moist but free draining.