Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (Aromatic Aster)

Growing in a nice 2-3 foot mound and blooming in Mid to Late Autumn, Aromatic Aster (Botanical name Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) is a great plant for the garden.

Aromatic Aster ranges across the Great Plains, but can also be found in the Appalachian Mountains from Tennessee to Pennsylvania.  Aromatic aster is usually found in alkaline to slightly acidic, gravelly meadows and prairies.

Cultivars

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

The variety ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ is an exceptionally nice cultivar of Aromatic Aster, featuring a more compact habit and darker flower color.  This variety is also more floriferous than the straight species.  It has been my preferred cultivar of aromatic aster, and I have used it as an easy-to-grow and easy to propagate filler for our garden.

‘Raydon’s Favorite’ was originally introduced in to horticulture through Raydon Alexander, a gardener from San Antonio.  This variety has been grown in Southern Texas for years, almost becoming a garden heirloom – Alexander sent some to Allen Bush, the owner of Holbrook Farm and Nursery, stating that it was his favorite fall-blooming aster.

Though it had been grown in Texas for years, it appears that the original plant matches up with strains of Aromatic Aster from East Tennessee; a gardener must have noted a particulary nice specimen and brought it back to Texas.  A strain growing on Lookout Mountain has fairly similar characteristics, and this popular tourist destination may very well be the original source of ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ aster.  The whole story can be read here: https://www.gardenrant.com/2016/03/when-the-aster-hitched-a-ride.html

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘October Skies’

Featuring a lighter flower color and even more compact habit than ‘Raydon’s Favorite’, ‘October Skies’ aromatic aster features sky-blue flowers on a shrubby, 18 to 24 inch tall plant.

‘October Skies’ blooms a few weeks earlier than ‘Raydon’s Favorite’, extending the bloom season – If you have both cultivars in your garden, they will spread prolifically by seed, though the flower color will vary from the original cultivars.

Asters typically require separate cultivars or seed-grown plants to set a crop of seeds, and planting 2 cultivars pretty much guarantees seed set, offering plenty of seeds for finches and sparrows over the winter.

Uses

Aromatic aster is a highly useful plant.  It flowers similarly to New England Aster, but unlike New England Aster it doesn’t get leggy or flop over.

Aromatic Aster is a great shrub-like perennial to include in a minimal-maintenance landscape, especially for fall color.  Combined with other fall-blooming perennials like ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod, this plant is a great way to end the growing season.

Garden Uses

Easy-to-grow and propagate, Aromatic Aster makes a great filler for the garden. The plants grow to bloom quickly, and can be easily divided in the spring to establish more clumps.

I use Aromatic Aster as a low hedge in our gardens – If the plants are sheared over the course of the season (Called “tipping” or “heading” in gardening speak), the result is a dense, bushy shrub-like effect. I like to use aromatic aster as a border between lawn and garden beds.

Because of its late bloom time, Aromatic Aster makes a great season-extender for the garden. I’ve had it bloom well into November here in Central Indiana, and I’m always surprised at how many honeybees and other pollinators utilize it right up until it finishes blooming.

Aromatic Aster is a good plant to include if you have high deer and rabbit pressure in your garden – The plants are aromatic with a clean, soapy smell, and that seems to discourage these herbivores from browsing the plants.

Benefits for Wildlife

Aromatic Aster blooms very late in the season, offering nectar and pollen for pollinators and migrating butterflies.  I haven’t looked closely to see if there are any native bees that use it, but the clumps are always buzzing with honeybees in the fall.

Asters of all types are the larval host of 11 species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), at least in our area according to the NWF. Including aromatic aster in your garden ensures an abundance of caterpillars which are the most important food of songbirds when they nest in the spring.

Aromatic aster is dense and shrubby, and the sturdy growth stays in place over the winter. This, combined with the plentiful seed set, attracts sparrows and juncos to stay in your garden in the drab winter season.

How to Grow Aromatic Aster

Aromatic Aster is very easy to grow, able to take crippling heat and humidity, bone-numbing winter cold, heavy rain, droughts – The only thing Aromatic Aster can’t handle is heavy, waterlogged soils.

Space aromatic aster 30 inches apart in average garden soil, and the clumps will come back for years, brightening up the Late Fall Garden.

PCG Species Scorecard for Aromatic Aster

At-A-Glance Information