I would not hesitate to cut apart this plant, which is not an aster like the typical garden asters. I would dig up the clump, hose it enough to wash the roots to see where to cut, puddle the pieces back in the ground. I would try it anytime there is no drought, freezing or blooming. An adaptable, underused native. My first were grown from seed and I still have them, almost 35 years later, as well as 'peachie's purple'and 'Mary Gregory'. Nice to see new varieties, of different heights and shades, that have come on the market, recently.

Glad I stopped over here, Hi, my name is cAROL,I am usually over on the hosta,and WSing forum. Reading this posting is helping me a lot,I just bought a Stokes Aster,'Peaches Pick',very pretty light purple,just a small information lable on it,actually, I bought 3. Can any one tell me the best way to grow them?In years past, I have enjoyed looking at other peoples gardens, and loved the look of asters, only I did not know they were asters. Do I plant them close together, will they get tall,,bushy,,? If there is any thing you can tell me that will help me grown them on to beauty, I will appreciate it. So far, I have enjoyed reading what every one has to say. Thank you, cAROL

Is Perfume Delight wilting in the heat of the sun and then recovering when it gets shady? If so, rig up something so that it gets shade all day for a week or two until it settles in more and can handle the sun. Or are all the leaves brown and crinkly, with the entire plant deteriorating? Have you poked around in the soil with your fingers to see if it is moist all the way down? Or is it TOO moist (soggy)? Sometimes with planting mix it is too moist or there are dry pockets. Did you mix it with soil or is it all in the "Rose Garden Mix"? Could we see a photo of the plant? Those orange symphony daisies are so pretty, but I have found them difficult to get going especially at this time of the year when the weather begins to turn from mild to hot. Sometimes they are so rootbound in those little pots that they cannot make the transition to the garden. At other times they have been thrust into outdoor conditions suddenly after having been grown in ideal conditions in a greenhouse with perfect temperature and moisture and can't handle that transition either. Again rigging up some shade for them for a few days until they settle in a bit better might help--a few stakes and a piece of shade cloth, or a tall bucket between the sun and the plant...something like that.

Kirk, congratulations on your beautiful asters! Don't you just love them? Yes, they are a lot of trouble to grow, with row covers, but I think they're worth it. I have to disagree with whoever said rotating beds will help against aster yellows. I've read that too, but don't remember the source. That could help with some other diseases and/or rots, but aster yellows are carried by leafhoppers, not the soil, so rotating beds won't have any effect. That said, I rotate all my annuals around, just as a general field health measure. In my experience, the ONLY thing that prevents aster yellows is keeping the leafhoppers off, and the only way I know to accomplish that is with row covers. Kirk, did you put a framework up to hold the row covers, or just let them float? I've always figured that the flowers would get bent and hurt by a floating cover, but it sure would be nice to be wrong about that! Cheryl, if they are simply short, but don't have any of the yellow and/or brown spots and none of the stem/bud/leaf deformities that characterize aster yellows, they probably have a different problem. You're on an island, aren't you? Perhaps the yellows-carrying leafhoppers from the mainland haven't found your island, lucky you! Jeanne