Aster Love

Symphyotrichum cordifolium

Move over mums, when it comes to providing late-season support for bees and pollinators, it’s asters that master the season! Stores are pushing out containers of pinched mums that have flowers covering the surface of the plant. They’re gorgeous but notice that you don’t see any insects, especially on the double-flowered forms which are so prevalent. If only more native asters were propagated for fall gardens that could use them as true perennials.

I wrote about asters five years ago (has it been that long?), and I still have the ones that I wrote about then, plus I’ve added a few more. The asters native to my area are mostly leggy perennials so no one’s gonna pinch them into a compact ball. They do look fabulous mixed in with other fall perennials like clumping goldenrods and warm-season native grasses like little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).

Symphyotrichum puniceum

Native asters (Symphyotrichum sp.) also have another advantage over non-native Chrysanthemum. Native asters are host plants for 112 different species of butterflies and moths, making them the 2^nd most used herbaceous host plant (number one is goldenrod (Solidago)). If you like to support butterflies and moths (or you like to feed the birds with caterpillars and seeds), add lots of asters.

Here are the asters blooming this week in my garden. The purple/blue asters include:  the large Georgia aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum), the smaller purple aster (S. patens), swamp aster (S. puniceum), heartleaf aster (S. cordifolium), Short’s aster (S. shortii), smooth blue aster (S. laeve), wavyleaf aster (S. undulatum), plus a hybrid of two natives, Symphyotrichum ‘Raydon’s Favorite,’ my only one with a bushy habit.

When it comes to identifying asters, you have to employ all parts of the plant for clues - petal color alone won't do it. You also need to take note of the habit: different species can be found in wet places, dry sunny places, and part shade areas. I've also noticed that, among the species, there are those with bright yellow center (disk) flowers as well as many with tan disk flowers. The tan disk flowers usually turn a soft purple after a while. This coloring-changing disk flower characteristic is especially noticeable in the calico aster (S. lateriflorum) whose small flowers are clustered so close together.

Symphyotrichum cordifolium, tan centers

Symphyotrichum laeve, yellow centers

Symphyotrichum undulatum

Symphyotrichum shortii

The small white asters are heaven for the tiniest of bees and small skippers. They include: the delightfully bicolored calico aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum), the rice button aster (S. dumosum), smooth oldfield aster (S. racemosum), hairy oldfield aster (S. pilosum), and the now-more-distantly related white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata).

Symphyotrichum pilosum, note the hairy stems,
has fewer blooms in part shade 

S. pilosum blooms heavily in sun on roadsides in October

If you don’t have any native asters in your garden, check out a fall native plant sale near you and pick up a species or two. Already have some - get some more! You can even branch out to the goldenasters if you’ve got enough blue and white ones.  When it comes to aster love, you just can’t have enough.