Photo courtesy of Spotswood Greenery
Photo courtesy of Spotswood Greenery
Symphyotrichum laeve
🌿 Save 10% on all Natives
Discount applied automatically at checkout!
Guaranteed to arrive healthy. details →
Smooth aster stands upright without staking, which is unusual among the tall fall asters. Symphyotrichum laeve is a native perennial growing 2 to 4 feet tall and wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 8, and it blooms the first season after planting.
Blue-violet daisies with yellow centers open in late September and October, later than most asters and right when the season is closing. Asters are a keystone genus, and this species is a heavy draw for late-season bees, including specialists that feed on nothing else. It feeds pearl crescent caterpillars.
The name comes from the foliage, which is smooth and hairless with a waxy blue-green cast, unlike the rough leaves most asters carry. That waxy surface sheds water and is part of why this one resists the powdery mildew that disfigures other asters by September. The stems carry the same blue cast.
Smooth aster grows wild in prairies and dry open ground, so it wants full sun and well-drained soil and handles drought once established. Rich or wet ground makes it grow soft. It takes poor soil and moderate road salt, and deer generally leave it alone.
Height 2'- 4' Spread 2'- 4'
USDA Hardiness Zones 3-8
Lowest Temperatures -40°F to -30°F
Full sun to part sun- at least 4 hours direct sun per day
Pearl Crescent
AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY
