{"id":6611,"date":"2017-04-09T21:39:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T01:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/?p=6611"},"modified":"2017-04-09T23:06:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T03:06:56","slug":"spring-clean-up-october-skies-aster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/catinaanderson.com\/photography\/spring-clean-up-october-skies-aster\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Clean-Up: October Skies Aster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’m going to try something new.\u00a0 I thought I would, perhaps, embarrass myself a bit by vlogging some of my gardening pursuits.\u00a0 If nothing else then I will have these videos next year to help me remember what I am supposed to do to get everything all ready for the summer (or perhaps to remind me what NOT to do… depending on how things turn out!).<\/p>\n

But, maybe there will be tidbits of helpful information I can share by journaling through photo and video here on the blog and on my youtube channel.\u00a0 I know that youtube has been a tremendous blessing for me in learning what I have so far.\u00a0 With every task I set to do, from starting a seed to pruning a bush, I first visit youtube to see if anyone has useful experience to share.<\/p>\n

I am so grateful to the many before me have taken the time to vlog their tasks.\u00a0 This has made our gardening adventures so much easier.\u00a0 I honestly can’t imagine having to learn this before the age of googling and youtube.\u00a0 I have a few trusted books that I reference, but there’s nothing quite like seeing someone else take the gardening shears and make that cut to convince you that you can do it too (and that your plant just might survive the process).<\/p>\n

Of course, I am a beginner in all of this so some of what I blog might turn out to be great and some might turn out to be a lesson learned.\u00a0 But I’ll share what I can along the way.<\/p>\n

Today I start with cutting back my October Skies Aster.\u00a0 I visited youtube looking for an example of how to cut back last year’s growth and found nothing – presumably because it’s so simple that none was needed… but, like I said, I like to at least see it.\u00a0 So I did a quick before\/after of my pruning last year’s growth off with a few pictures in between showing what my plant looked like at the start and finish of last year.<\/p>\n

Here’s what our October Skies Aster looked like at the start of last summer (it’s 2nd summer of growth). (It is the plant to the right of the Stone Path).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And Here is what it looked like last fall in full bloom.\u00a0 Look at how quickly it grew!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This was only the 2nd summer we had this plant – we started with 2 asters in a typical medium sized garden pot.\u00a0 It just exploded!\u00a0 Greatest thing is… it’s totally thriving here in our dense clay soil.<\/p>\n

It’s also a pollinator magnet at a time of year when many other plants are dying back.<\/p>\n

You’ll have to watch the video below to see what it looked like today after the winter and what it looks like now that I’ve removed all the old, dead stalks to make room for this year’s growth.\u00a0 Here you go!<\/p>\n