Question
QUESTION: Hello,  it is good of you to volunteer to answer questions.  I am trying to identify a perennial I have seen in several gardens. Recently I asked a homeowner with one of these, what it was, but he said, "I forget".  I don't just want to knock on epople's doors and ask.  This flower is I think a fall perennial, a pale pink, tall (about 2 1/2 feet - 3 feet) a large graceful mound, about 2 feet across.  They are daisy-like but do not have so many petals.  They seem to me to be more tall, slender, and graceful than daisies. I have looked at pictures of zinnias and asters and I do not think it is these.  I have also looked at pictures of pink shata and gergerba (sp?) daisies and I don't think it is those.  It is a simple very basic-flower-like flower -- it is not ornate, but simple. I live on the coast of Massachusetts, above Boston.   The water is cold (Gulf of Maine water) but the ocean water still makes the weather here more temperate than inland Massachusetts, inland Conneecticut, and inland New York State.  But it is not so temperate as Long Island.  I know this must be a common flower.
Thanks!!!

ANSWER: Elizabeth, I could guess and guess and guess.... but the fastest, best thing for you to do is take this flower over to the nursery center and ask them what you'lve got.   They'll give you a good answer.  Dn't be shy.  People do this all the time.  ALL THE TIME!

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I can't take a flower out of someone else's garden.  i do not have the flower myself; I see it in other people's yards.  i have asked them -- and they say, I do not know.  These people are not usually home -- I can't just trespass and take their property.

Couldn't you please just guess a few times -- give me a few names?  I will follow up on it.  Please read carefully what I wrote about it -- growing season, color etc. etc.  These are the clues.

Answer
Here's your best shot: Go to the Bluestone Perennials website.  They have a 'custom search' option in the left hand corner.  You can put in your Zone, the season of the flower's bloom, etc. -- I think you may be in Zone 6 or possibly 5, if you want me to i.d. it send me your Zipcode and I'll let you know.

Fall bloomers commonly found are Chrysanthemums (and there are Football Mums and a dozen other subcategories for these) and Asters.  But there is a less common flowering Fall plant, Anemone, too.  All of these come in varying shades of Pink as well as other colors.  Bluestone posts a lot of photos.  If there's one that sounds like a possibility, let me know, and we can go over the description together.

I know what it's like to want to grow something and you have no idea what it is.  If all else fails, get yourself a digital camera and take a photo of the plant and flowers, then bring it over to the local florist and see if you can get them to cooperate with your i.d. project.  You can also send it to me -- a lot more accurate than going by a verbal description.  Let me know.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER