PlantFiles: New England Aster, Hardy Aster, Michaelmas Daisy
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

They DO grow quite tall, and I usually give them a haircut before they get to flowering. Even so, they still get tall...but I LOVE these Asters! They are magnificent, eye-catching, and the bees - every single species - love them and their late-blooming cycle here in upstate NY! Highly recommended if you love the cottage look or the garden gone wild look. They look so good, as to eat them! Really! And, btw, I believe I got my first seeds from a DG member!

This beautiful fall flower has a tendancy to get tall while the lower section of the stem turns brown. It is best placed in the back of the garden with other plants in front to cover the brown leaves on the lower stem. An easy trick to keep it a bit shorter with more compact growth is the let it grow to just over 2-3 feet and then give it a haircut to reduce its height by half. It will still have time to set flowers but will have a more orderly look in the garden.

Since this is my Birthday Flower (September-Virgo), I've always had an exceedingly warm and loving relationship with this plant. :) Growing up on the mesic prairies of the Red River Valley in Minnesota, I remember acres and acres of this beautiful perennial, growing amongst the goldenrod and ripe Elderberry shrubs. Now, 5 decades later, it is STILL my favourite Autumn perennial. As a landscape architect, I try to incorporate the actual tall species in any plantings I know it will THRIVE. I've tried the cultivated versions such as Purple Dome in gardens but they lack the "Umph!" of this 4' x 4' beauty. I have a second home in Michigan, on the dunes, and we've allowed vast areas of our property to return to native duneland, and this aster has thrived, along with many of it's cousins in the Aster Family. I'm always amazed at the variations on a theme, that are displayed in the colour: deep rose, baby pink, soft purple, DEEP purple and sometimes, a pure white version. Whenever I find self-sown seedlings of a rarer colour, I tag them and once done blooming, I dig them up and transfer them to areas of the garden that we view daily. I'm always surprised that a plant of this height can have such a small root system to support it, but support it, it does! NO PESTS! NO DISEASES! What's not to love?

Common late-summer/fall bloom along Southern New Hampshire's back roads.

The New England aster does very well here despite the long, hot, humid and some times dry southern summers. I've never had this aster successfully reseed so I occasionally like to plant new ones. It spreads slowly here and is an excellent addition to any location that gets part-sun/part-shade. It's one of my favorite fall bloomers and the butterflies love it.

Although it does indeed self-seed prolifically, it's majestic splendor in the fall makes it my premier fall blooming perennial. It's also a late season butterfly magnet. Combined with goldenrod it steals the show.

This native perennial wildflower is drought resistent and needs no staking. Not a heavy seeder in my experience. Just enough to perpetuate the species without unduly interfering with other plants.

The hybrid varieties are very pretty but the wild forms - while alright looking - are rather plain. Hybrids are also more tame but given the right enviroment (in the Northeast U.S., for example), all New England Asters can be invasive. Not ridiculously so, but can self-seed and spread to the point of being a mild nuisance, more suited to wild areas to me than a garden.

The species makes a wide bush about 4' around if not pruned or staked after it falls down; this provides much better flowering because flowering shoots grow up from all along the stems. Re-seeds itself around a lot if not deadheaded.


It grows well in light shade, but best flowering in full sun.

New England Asters are perennial in zones 3-9 and grow from 2-5' tall. The leaves are 4-5" long and the flowers are 2" across, violet purple and have a bright, golden yellow center. Water plants in early morning when possible and avoid getting the leaves wet. You may need to stake taller varieties.

The plants should be planted in open, airy location to lessen risk of powdery mildew and need well-drained, dry, fertile soil.

Propagation can be done by stem cuttings or by division in early spring or fall. Divisions should be done every 2 years or so when the center of the plants begin to die. Cultivars don't grow true from seed very often.