Aster thomsonii Nanus

Aster thomsonii Nanus is a charming dwarf form of Thomson's aster, one of the parents of the excellent variety 'Mönch'. This small perennial plant offers long-lasting summer flowering, remarkable for its delicacy. Its bright blue-mauve head flowers with a yellow centre are particularly fine and produced abundantly for 3 months. Floriferous, hardy and disease-resistant, this variety takes a little longer to establish but becomes more beautiful over time. Plant it in full sun, in good, moist garden soil, along the edge of a border or in a rock garden.

Aster thomsonii, from the Asteraceae family, is a botanical species native to the western Himalayas, from Pakistan to Uttarakhand, where it grows at an altitude between 2100 and 3000 m (6890 and 9842ft). It is a perennial, deciduous herbaceous plant, with its above-ground vegetation disappearing in winter. Very hardy (down to -18°C (1°F)), this aster appreciates sunny exposures and moist soil. Its growth is rather slow.

'Nanus' is distinguished by its more compact development. The vegetation of this aster starts in spring, ultimately forming a dense clump of about 40 cm (16in) in all directions. Its slender, hairy, dark and branching stems bear simple, medium green leaves, arranged alternately, elliptical to ovate in shape and pointed, with coarsely toothed edges. The flowering takes place from July to September. At the end of the stems, solitary or clustered flowers are formed, in 4 cm (2in) diameter heads. Each head is composed of numerous very fine, flat, bluish lilac 'petals', surrounding a central disk of golden yellow.

Aster thomsonii Nanus brings life to the garden throughout the summer. You can plant it in a rock garden or a trough to create an alpine garden, accompanied by Carex comans Frosted Curls, Campanula poscharskyana or Saxifrages. Along a border or pathway, you can associate it with agastaches, penstemons, echinaceas, small Japanese anemones...

The Aster genus is extremely diverse, with a wide range of varied colours, and varieties of all sizes for all types of soils. Depending on the cultivars, it is even possible to extend the flowering from spring to the end of autumn, allowing gardening enthusiasts to enjoy these lovely wildflower-like daisies for a large part of the year, in the garden and in bouquets.