Symphyotrichum oblongifolium is a gorgeous aster and one of the last wildflowers to bloom before winter. It has a mounding habit, and creates dense clumps up to 3 feet tall. The small, daisylike flowers can vary greatly in color from delicate blue to deep pink or violet. The centers are bright gold. A mature plant in full bloom is a sight to behold, especially when the rest of the garden is winding down for the season. The leaves are smooth, oblong, and fragrant, hence the common name. Its native range is centered across the central Plains with scattered populations in the East. It grows in a range of open, gravelly or rocky habitats, and on prairies, pastures, dunes, and roadsides.
Aromatic aster prefers full sun, poor soil, and dry conditions, but it will be happy most anywhere with good drainage and lots of sun. It is heat tolerant and especially likes south or west-facing slopes. In moist, fertile soils, it can be outcompeted by more taller, more aggressive species. The arching stems can open up and sprawl if it gets too top-heavy; trimming off 1/3 to 1/2 the height in late spring will keep it more compact.
Space plants 18"-36" on center.
Aromatic aster will slowly spread via stolons. It can be thinned if it becomes too wide.
Aromatic aster combines with many other showy, pollinator-attracting perennials, including Coreopsis palmata (stiff tickseed), Liatris aspera (tall blazing star), Ruellia humilis (wild petunia), Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower, Eryngium yuccifolium (button eryngo), Coreopsis tripteris (tall tickseed), Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), and Rudbeckia fulgida (orange coneflower). On the grassy side, you can't go wrong pairing it with Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama), Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama), or Koeleria macrantha (prairie junegrass).
Symphyotrichum is a keystone genus, meaning it's a heavyweight when it comes to supporting the food web in an ecosystem. According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, aromatic aster is a species of special value to native bees, attracting particularly large numbers of them. It also attracts predatory or parasitoid insects that prey on pest insects. Many other insects eat the foliage and other parts of the plant, including caterpillars of the Silvery Checkerspot and the larvae of many moths. It's a wildlife powerhouse.
Across its range, the species varies in the shape and size of the leaves, with different forms at various times being separated out. Most taxonomists recognize those forms as variations on a continuum rather than distinct varieties.
The species got the common name aromatic aster because the leaves exude a fragrance when crushed. The flowers, however, are only mildly fragrant. Symphyotrichum is a genus of about 90 species that were formerly classified under the Aster genus. The majority of these species are native to North America.
$25 off orders of $500 or more
$50 off orders of $750 or more
$100 off orders of $1,000 or more
$300 off orders of $2,000 or more
15% off orders of $3,000 or more
Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
AL, AR, DC, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, VA, WI, WV, CO, MT, NM, TX, WY |
Rare | IN |
Threatened | OH |
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons |
Subclass | Asteridae | |
Order | Asterales | |
Family | Asteraceae | Aster family |
Genus | Symphyotrichum | aster |
Species | Symphyotrichum oblongifolium | aromatic aster |
fall aster, wild blue aster, shale aster, American aromatic aster, shalebarren aster, oblong leaf aster
Aster oblongifolius
Aster kumleinii
Lasallea oblongifolia
Virgulus oblongifolius
Sizes info
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.