Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin'
By the team at Barnsdale Gardens.
As the borders start to turn, Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin' is just coming into its own. Its violet-purple, semi-double flowers with golden centres are opening now across the garden, and it will carry that colour through into autumn, well after most of the summer border has finished.
Aster amellus, sometimes known as the Italian aster or European Michaelmas daisy, is native to central and southern Europe. 'Veilchenkönigin' — German for "violet queen" — is a long-established cultivar, valued for a neater, more compact habit than many Michaelmas daisies, and for standing up noticeably better to powdery mildew.
Why Choose Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin'
It earns its place at the front of a border rather than the back: a tidy, clump-forming habit reaching around 30–45cm, so it doesn't need the staking many taller asters do. The mildew resistance is a genuine advantage — one we can vouch for. Ours have come through this summer's heat cleanly, with no sign of it. Flowering runs from late summer into autumn, filling a gap most perennials have already stepped back from.
Where to Plant It
Aster amellus prefers free-draining soil and full sun, and that's borne out in our own beds — the plant in our cutting garden, which sits in particularly free-draining ground, has needed a bit of extra water through the recent heat to keep it comfortable. That said, it isn't fussy: we also grow it in the heavier soil of the Reclaim Garden, unfed, where it's doing perfectly well. Give it sun and reasonable drainage and it will settle in most garden soils.
Planting Companions and Garden Design Ideas
In our Reclaim Garden, 'Veilchenkönigin' sits directly beside Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude', and the pairing works well — the sedum's dusky pink flowerheads and the aster's violet daisies cover much the same season. More broadly, it's a good match for other late-interest plants: rudbeckias and heleniums for warmth and contrast, and ornamental grasses for movement and structure as the year winds down. In our cutting garden, each bed is planted to a colour theme, and 'Veilchenkönigin' has found its home in the purples, alongside lavender. It's worth borrowing that idea on a smaller scale in a home cutting patch or border — a run of violets and purples reads as a considered planting rather than a mix of leftovers.
Growing and Propagating
'Veilchenkönigin' is an easy plant to leave alone. We don't feed ours, and it's thriving regardless. It's slower to bulk up than some Michaelmas daisies, so don't expect it to need dividing as often — when it does, spring is the time, and basal cuttings taken in spring are another reliable way to increase your stock. Leave the flowered stems standing through autumn; we cut ours back once they've browned off and flowering has finished, usually in October or November, which also leaves something for wildlife to shelter in over the coming weeks.
Wildlife Value in the Garden
Late-flowering asters are a valuable late-season nectar source, and 'Veilchenkönigin' is no exception — once in full flower, ours regularly draw bees, hoverflies, and butterflies. Ours have only just opened for the season, so the real activity is still to come, but it's worth watching over the next few weeks if you're planting for pollinators.
See Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin' at Barnsdale Gardens
You can see 'Veilchenkönigin' for yourself in two spots in the garden this autumn: at the front of the border in the Reclaim Garden, alongside Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' and in the purples bed of our cutting garden, planted with lavender. It's available now from our online shop.
Plants are available in our nursery, or you can buy Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin' online from Barnsdale Gardens by clicking here.
