This week’s native plant is heather aster.
Asters are September flowers, which may be why I like to plant lots of fall flowers in my garden. (My birthday is in September. Wink, wink.) My current fascination is with heather aster (symphyotrichum ericoides), especially the variety Snow Flurry. They have lots of the sweetest little flowers everywhere.
I love pairing this white fall heather aster with Andropogon gerardii Blackhawk and Heliopsis heliantoides Burning Hearts and Bleeding Hearts. Because it really brings out the darkness of the grass and the fake sunflower leaves. I placed heather aster along the edge of the garden, with blackhawk and bleeding heart behind it. It’s very pretty (if I do say so myself).
Heather aster tolerates dry, sandy soils and drought. It grows less than 1 foot tall and 1 to 2 feet wide, making it the perfect ground cover. It grows in full sun or part sun and looks stunning in native gardens, pollinator gardens, and rock gardens. Snow Flurries produce many small flowers in late summer that last into fall. Their branches remind of junipers with thin green leaves.
I love heather because it spreads aggressively and reduces weeding time. Also, my soul rejoices when so many white flowers bloom at this time of year (and the blue and purple asters in my garden stand out). This late-season interest is great for us, but more importantly, they provide important nectar for our late pollinators.
Snow Flurry looks great in a pot, spilling over the sides. They are pest resistant and of course deer resistant. This aster is also somewhat salt tolerant. It is not very dependent on the soil, so it can be planted anywhere except in rainy gardens or very damp areas. Now, let’s start planting rice.
companion plants
• Yarrow — Yarrow
• Andropogon gerardi — large blue stem.
• Asclepias tuberosa — butterflyweed
• Chelone glabra — white turtle head
• Coreopsis — a species of mite.
• Dalea purpurea — purple prairie clover
• Echinacea — Cornflower
• Euphorbia — spurge
• Eupatorium perfoliatum — bone set
• Eutrochium — Joe Pye Weed
• Helenium autumnale — sneezing grass
• Leucanthemum x superbum — Shasta daisy
• Liatris Aspera — Shining Star
• Stiff oligoneuronal neuron — Stiff goldenrod
• Onoclea sensibilis — sensitive fern
• Panicum virgatum — switchgrass
• Penstemon digitalis — digitalis whisker tongue
• Polystichum acrosticchoides — Christmas fern
• Sarunashi – Grassland Yellowfin
• Rudbeckia — black or brown-eyed susan
• Silphium integrifolium — rowan
• Silphium terebinthinaceum — prairie dock
• Goldenrod — Goldenrod
• Symphyotrichum laeve — smooth aster
• Symphyotrichum oolentangiense — sky blue aster
wildlife benefits
• Great wild plants sought out by many pollinators, especially late-season insects, including native bees and butterflies.
• Monarch butterflies depend on fall asters for nectar for their long journey to Mexico.
• Host plants for silver checkerspot (chlosyne nycteis), pearl crescent butterfly (phyciodes tharos), and wavy emerald moth (synchlora aerata).
• Of course, birds will prefer insects, which are rich in protein, as a source of protein when traveling south for the winter.
• Keep seed heads up over winter for black-capped tits, juncos, and goldfinches.
fun facts
• According to mythology, the Greek goddess Astraea cried out about the lack of stars in the sky. When her tears fell, they became our star-shaped aster.
• Native Americans have used asters to treat coughs, fevers, skin disorders, and as an herbal additive for sweat baths.
• Unfortunately, heather aster is on Tennessee’s endangered species list.
