Aster novi-belgii - Hardy Plant Society

Aster novi-belgii – not yet ready for the 

great compost heap in the sky! 

‘Weedy; botanically interesting; charming; very natural in appearance; attractive 

when planted en masse’. All have been used in descriptions of the 250 or so 

species of the Aster genus, native to Northern America, of which a very small 

number have been used by plant breeders to create the marvellously diverse range 

of hardy plants we know as Autumn Flowering Asters or Michaelmas daisies. 

Aster novi-belgii is an extremely variable species from the north-eastern states 

of the USA and southern Canada and heads the list for botanical promiscuity. 

Close proximity with many other North American species planted in nineteenth 

century English gardens resulted in an eruption of hybrids. After a few 

generations of seedlings crossing with other seedlings, there emerged an 

Aster novi-belgii at Old Court Nurseries. 

Paul Picton 

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© Paul Picton

© Paul Picton 


identifiable race which bears the name of Aster 

novi-belgii (fig. 1) to the present day. Other 

important contributors included AA. laevis (fig. 2), 

puniceus, longifolius, paniculatus, ericoides and 

cordifolius and the later addition by plant breeders 

of A. dumosus. Towards the end of the 19th century the first extensive collection of asters was 

growing in the famous Gibbs family garden at 

Aldenham, from where several of the early 

named varieties, including ‘Climax’, were 

distributed. 

Fig. 1 Aster novi-belgii 

At the same time, in the Herefordshire village 

of Colwall, Ernest Ballard was growing drifts of 

Michaelmas daisies in his garden. Although very 

much an admirer of the graceful species and the 

gentle colours of the flowers adorning arching, tall 

stems, he saw an opportunity to improve the floral 

qualities of the existing hybrids. He sought to 

breed sturdier flowering sprays bearing larger 

numbers of blooms from plants with roots which 

did not invade the whole border within a season 

of growth. Ballard also considered it was 

Fig. 2 A. laevis 

important for his plants to be useful as cut 

flowers. In 1906 he established Old Court 

Nurseries as trial grounds for his “new race of asters” and these quintessentially 

English hardy perennials are still flourishing on the same site as the mainstay of 

the Plant Heritage National Collection of Autumn Flowering Asters, in the 

Picton Garden at Old Court Nursery at Colwall, near Malvern. 

In the early years of his breeding programme, Ernest Ballard painstakingly 

created deliberate crosses between selected seedlings to try to achieve the results 

he had in mind. However, he soon found greater success in the careful selection 

of large quantities of seedlings from parent ‘selfed’ plants which showed a step 

towards a desired colour, size of bloom, or shape of flowering spray. At the height 

of his work in the 1920s and 1930s, up to 5 acres of land was devoted to first-year 

seedlings and older plants grown on to test their garden qualities. Many other 

nurserymen saw the potential and reaped the benefits of the rise to universal 

popularity of Michaelmas daisies. However, it was always Ballard who led the 

way with new varieties, fully recognising the commercial importance of being 

ahead with his breeding. 

More than 60 good cultivars originated in Colwall: the lovely ‘Marie Ballard’ 

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(fig. 3) was selected just before his death in 

1952, but was not sold until 1955 when 

sufficient stocks were available. It’s 

interesting to look back at some of the 

earlier named varieties which led to the 

clean, lavender-blue rays in its superbly 

formal flowers. ‘Climax’ has precisely 

circular, lavender-blue flowers on tall 

sprays and shows much affinity with A. 

laevis in its broad foliage and stout basal 

shoots. ‘Beauty of Colwall’ (fig. 4) is an 

early example of Ballard’s move towards 

flowers with a larger ray count. In the 1920s 

‘Anita Ballard’ (fig. 5) introduced cleaner 

shades of lavender blue in the rays. Through the 1930s cultivars including 

‘Princess Marie Louise’ and ‘The Sexton’ (fig. 6) brought larger flowers. In the 

1940s ‘Plenty’ showed a great improvement in both the colour and size of the 

flowers, in addition to having very substantial, weatherproof rays. In the early 

1950s more rays increased the double effect of the flower with ‘Ada Ballard’ (fig. 7), 

though the shade of colour was sacrificed to a lilac blue. Seed, saved from 

‘Ada Ballard’ some years before it was released for sale, produced the plant later 

to become ‘Marie Ballard’. 

Here was the most pure 

blue aster to date with 

full, double flowers as a 

bonus. Stems are sturdy to 

1m high and the compact 

root clumps produce large 

numbers of shoots. ‘Marie 

Ballard’ must have been 

frequently renamed by other 

growers, for when we were 

building our collection in 

the 1980s, no less than 12 

different ‘names’ from 

various sources all proved 

to be her! 

The nurseries of Jones 

and the well-known Perry’s 

of Enfield were notable 

Fig. 4 ‘Beauty of Colwall’ 

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Fig. 3 ‘Marie Ballard’ 



Fig. 5 ‘Anita Ballard’ 

Fig. 6 ‘The Sexton’ Fig. 7 ‘Ada Ballard’ 



© Paul Picton


growers of asters from Edwardian times. In the 

1930s Woods nurseries introduced the 

Beechwood range, the origin of most cultivars 

with purple-red flowers. In 1950 Ernest Ballard’s 

introduction of ‘Red Sunset’ was a huge success. 

Percy Picton followed up with ‘Rufus’(fig. 8) in 

1956, ‘Freda Ballard’ in 1959, then in 1962 

‘Helen Ballard’, the best of the purple-red shades. 

In addition to Ballard (who was succeeded at 

Old Court Nurseries by my father, Percy Picton) 

other notable growers and breeders of asters 

through the middle years of the 20th Fig. 8 ‘Rufus’ 

century were 

Carlile’s of Twyford, Gayborder Nurseries from Melbourne in Derbyshire, 

Sandford’s in East Anglia and Baker’s of Codsall. Carlile’s introduced 

‘Fellowship’ (fig. 9) which probably has the largest flowers of any modern aster 

in the novi-belgii group – the pale pink blossoms cover generous, shapely sprays. 

Interestingly, the plant was raised by Sandford’s, which is still remembered by the 

free-flowering ‘Sandford’s White Swan’ (fig. 10). ‘Percy Thrower’ is another 

variety with spectacular, large flowers, this time with rich, lavender-blue rays. It 

was raised in 1958 during Mr. R. Lidsey’s time at Gayborder Nurseries. In the 

early 1960s, Mr. T. Mills was in charge of the asters at Bakers and he introduced 

many of the excellent varieties, raised by Ronald Watts, such as heather-purple 

‘Coombe Rosemary’ (fig. 11) and purple-red ‘Janet Watts’. 

George Chiswell was born in Colwall and his first job was working in the 

gardens at Old Colwall House for Mrs. Raynor-Wood. After the Second World 

War he moved to Midsomer Norton near Bath and by the 1960s was running his 

own nursery, growing a wide range of plants. He must have loved the memory of 

Ernest Ballard’s fields of asters dotted around his birthplace because he raised 

many new varieties based on the best from Old Court Nurseries. A number of 

them are named after Somerset mining villages, such as the rich, purple-blueflowered 

‘Gurney Slade’ (fig. 12) and the soft pink ‘Timsbury’. ‘Priory Blush’ 

was named after his Priory Nursery. It has graceful sprays of white flowers, 

flushed with pink, and is an excellent variety for cutting. 

All of the cultivars mentioned so far grow 100–150cm tall. Dwarf cultivars of 

A. novi-belgii did not exist when Old Court Nurseries began, and even when the 

work of Victor Vokes and others resulted in compact varieties for the front edges 

of borders, Ballard usually dismissed them as being formless clumps. He must 

have relented on occasion because ‘Snowsprite’, ‘Little Pink Lady’ and 

‘Rosebud’ are among the varieties he raised. ‘Rosebud’ is unique in having small, 

tightly double flowers of light pink and is just 30cm tall. It was only after the war 

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that the public showed much interest in shortgrowing 

asters. ‘Lady in Blue’ (fig. 13) was raised by 

Perry’s and introduced by Carlile’s in 1955. In the 

1960s the ever popular and showy, pale pink 

‘Chatterbox’ (fig. 14) was introduced by Bakers, and 

from Blooms Nurseries came sturdy 40cm ‘Jenny’ 

with large purple-red flowers and its twin, ‘Royal 

Ruby’. Records indicate ‘Jenny’ as a different plant 

raised by Mr. Harrison in 1926. In spite of the 

confusion, the modern ‘Jenny’ became one of the 

best-selling asters of all time. Dutch and German 

plant breeders came to the fore with many excellent 

dwarf cultivars: ‘Professor Anton Kippenberg’ has 

bright blue flowers, ‘Kassel’ bright, reddish-purple 

and ‘Rosenwichel’ pink flowers on low spreading 

clumps. 

Few novi-belgii asters from the 1920s and 1930s 

grow to the useful height of around 60cm. The dwarf 

cultivars led slowly to the introduction of a small 

range of these intermediate-sized plants. William 

Woods and Sons of Taplow offered ‘Little Red Boy’ 

in 1946. It was bettered in 1950 by the Gayborder 

Nurseries introduction of ‘Winston S. Churchill’, a 

very bushy plant, about 70cm, with masses of bright, 

purple-red flowers, an instant hit with gardeners, in 

spite of being more prone to mildew attack than most. 

‘Chequers’ (fig. 15) was raised by Gayborder Nurseries 

in 1953 and has really rich, violet-purple flowers. 

Percy Picton raised the very last ‘Ballard’ aster, 

from the original strain, in 1972. This was ‘Sarah 

Ballard’, named after Ernest Ballard’s granddaughter. 

The flowers are large, full rayed, lilac purple, on plants 

growing to about 100cm. So far the only novi-belgii 

asters I have seen fit to add were ‘Ralph Picton’ 

(fig. 16) in 1991 and in 1994 ‘Marjory Ballard’, named 

after a Colwall lady who was a very keen gardener and 

the wife of one of Ernest Ballard’s nephews. 

The popularity of the novi-belgii group spanned 70 

years. Before the war, borders devoted to them were 

a common feature in gardens throughout the UK. It 

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Fig. 9 ‘Fellowship’ 

Fig. 10 ‘Sandford’s White Swan’ 

Fig. 11 ‘Coombe Rosemary’ 

Fig. 12 ‘Gurney Slade’ 




© Paul Picton





Fig. 13 ‘Lady in Blue’ 

Fig. 14 ‘Chatterbox’ 

Fig. 15 ‘Chequers’ 

Fig. 16 ‘Ralph Picton’ 

was quite usual for these borders to be replanted each 

year with young stock produced from offsets, cuttings 

or division, the best displays coming from potted 

offsets, planted out in groups. The taller varieties 

required support from an early stage of growth and 

careful tying in throughout the growing season. The 

labour involved in such intensive growing was readily 

available in the days when it was possible to employ 

several gardeners. Regular spraying would be 

undertaken in the hope of curing mildew or preventing 

it from disfiguring the foliage. Although the range of 

sprays available to modern gardeners has been limited 

by largely unnecessary regulations, the ones we have 

left are effective preventatives when used properly. 

Many 21 st century gardens lack enough space for an 

aster border (or any border devoted to one genus). But a 

careful selection of cultivars will come up with plenty 

to fit into all sorts of mixed planting schemes. This 

same selection will give a good show of flowers from 

clumps divided every third year. In addition there are 

numerous traditional varieties to grow specifically for 

cut flowers, and others well suited for colourful 

displays in autumn containers. None will require a 

polytunnel or chemicals to keep its height down! 

A loyal band of gardeners still plant cultivars of A. 

novi-belgii, somewhat in defiance of the current trend to 

make use of the increasing range of less troublesome 

cultivars of A. novae-angliae and the ever popular A. x 

frikartii ‘Mönch’ and several good varieties of A. 

amellus. 

Many novi-belgii have been hybridised with smallflowered 

varieties, such as A. pringlei ‘Monte Cassino’, 

to produce a modern range of plants for the worldwide 

cut-flower industry. They are mostly not intended for 

garden planting, even if available for the purpose. This 

said, some of these hybrids have been successfully 

selected to provide plants for naturalistic and prairie 

planting schemes. Piet Oudolf is internationally 

renowned for his work in this style of using herbaceous 

perennials and A. ‘Ochtendgloren’ is one of his early 

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introductions. A. novi-belgii cultivars have 

also been used in the breeding of ‘dwarfed’ 

pot-grown asters, which are definitely not 

suitable for traditional garden use. 

A current and promising trend in the 

breeding of asters for the garden involves 

A. novi-belgii and A. cordifolius. Developments 

have been inspired by Mrs. 

Thornely’s 1930s introduction of A. 

‘Little Carlow’ (fig. 17), a wonderful plant 

combining the best characters from both 

parents: stout, long-lived clumps of 

graceful 120cm sprays of bright, lavenderblue 

flowers over a long season. A. laevis 

and A. x salignus are also being involved. It 

seems that, far from being consigned to the 

great compost heap of worthless plants, the 

Fig. 17 ‘Little Carlow’ 

wonderful floral qualities of A. novi-belgii cultivars will still have an important 

role to play in the future of Autumn Flowering Asters. 

Paul Picton literally grew up among fields of Michaelmas daisies, living the yearround 

routine of growing the plants commercially – his father, Percy, went to 

Colwall to manage Old Court Nurseries for Ernest Ballard when Paul was just 

six. Percy Picton acquired the nursery business in 1956, and Paul joined him, 

later assuming control of the business in the 1970s – at the depths of the 

depressing period when few people wanted to buy these asters. 

It was in the late 1980s when Paul’s wife Meriel told him that the time had come 

to revive an interest in asters. So,The Picton Garden expanded on the old aster 

trial grounds, and asters old and new poured in from all the remaining sources. 

Isabel Allen and Joy Huish were the main contributors because they wished to 

pass on their existing collection to ensure the future of the plants. The new 

collection was registered in the early years of the then NCCPG. Large, colourful 

borders in the old pre-war style attracted crowds of visitors and many gardening 

photographers. A new era for Michaelmas daisies was launched. 

Paul and Meriel’s daughter, Helen, took a degree in botany and has now joined 

them at Old Court Nurseries (see p9)– the third generation of the Picton family 

to be involved in growing Autumn Flowering Asters. 

For more photographs and information see www.autumnasters.co.uk 

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© Paul Picton


Choosing a Michaelmas daisy – Paul recommends… 

‘Marie Ballard’ (fig. 3) – best shade of blue flowers. Plants live for several years 

without division, unless you crave the finest quality sprays. Sept. & Oct. 

‘Harrison’s Blue’ – rich violet blue, flowering quality good for three seasons. Oct. 

‘Priory Blush’ (fig. 18) – white with pale pink – unusual soft colours and graceful 

sprays ideal for flower arranging. Three years before needing division. Sept. – Oct. 

‘Helen Ballard’ (fig. 19) – the best-formed and the brightest purple-red flowers. 

Divide annually for stronger growth and flowering stems. Late Sept. 

‘Mary Deane’ – vibrant purple pink (all the rage in the 1960s), a strong-growing 

cultivar brings a long lasting splash of colour to autumn borders. Quite satisfactory 

if undivided for several years. Sept. & Oct. 

‘Rosebud’ – a rather curious, ultra-compact-growing variety rarely reaching 30cm 

tall. Grown well, it puts on a superb display of small, fully double, button-type 

flowers on stiff sprays. Lovely for small flower arrangements. Best results from 

plants divided each spring. Sept. & Oct. 

‘Lisa Dawn’ – everyone looking for a red, dwarf-growing aster wants ‘Jenny’; but I 

prefer the early-flowering ‘Lisa Dawn’ – 40cm tall mulberry-red flowers. Can be 

left in site for three years. From late Aug. 

‘Remembrance’ – no one should miss out on this compact, 45cm cultivar, with 

large, lavender-blue flowers. Can be OK for five years but three is quite long 

enough. Oct. 

All cultivars of Aster novi-belgii need an open, sunny site in fertile soil which 

retains moisture in the summer months. The dreaded curse of mildew is best 

avoided by biting the ‘green’ bullet and using a suitable preventative spray at 

regular intervals between late spring and flowering time. The old fashioned method 

of dividing the plants into individual offsets each spring and giving them plenty of 

space for air circulation might be helpful. Chelsea chopping is said to reduce 

mildew, but it may not work very well in long, dreary, cloudy summers which slow 

down the rate of regrowth and lead to indifferent results at flowering time. 

Fig. 18 ‘Priory Blush’ 


Fig. 19 ‘Helen Ballard‘ 

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Aster novi-belgii - Hardy Plant Society

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