Symphyotrichum laeve, formerly classified as Aster laevis, is possibly the showiest of all the native blue asters. It adds a profusion of blooms starting in late summer into fall, giving the garden and pollinators a late-season boost. It grows to a height of 3 feet, and can be easily identified among other asters by its smooth stems and smooth, slightly glossy foliage, hence the common name 'smooth blue aster'. The stems are erect, robust, and divide into branchlets towards the upper part of the plant. The leaves are smooth, blue- to gray-green, alternate, and are up to 6" long at the base of the plant, becoming smaller as you move up the stem. Each branchlet will bear a multitude of one inch across blue ray flowers with yellow disks. It's widespread in the Northern and Eastern U.S., although populations in the Southeast are scattered and rare.
Smooth blue aster is easy to grow under typical garden conditions, and is very low maintenance. It can be grown in average, well-drained soil, and once established, is very tolerant of dry spells. Its native habitat includes prairies and open woodlands in part-sun to full sun. It's very cold hardy, handling temps in Zones 3-8.
Space plants 18"-24" on center.
Smooth blue aster stays more upright than many other asters, so it has narrower profile than most. This is not an aggressive species, but under ideal conditions, it will form clonal colonies via a fibrous, rhizomatous root systems.
Symphyotrichum laeve is lovely complement to these tall, sun-loving perennials: Ratibida pinnata (prairie coneflower), Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower), Vernonia fasciculata (prairie ironweed), Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root), Coreopsis tripteris (tall tickseed), Liatris pycnostachya (prairie blazing star), and Eryngium yuccifolium (button eryngo). Pop in some Ruellia humilis (wild petunia) to fill in spaces around the edges. And don't forget the all-important grasses, like Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Sorghastrum nutans (yellow prairie grass, Indiangrass), and Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama).
Symphyotrichum laeve is an exceptionally attractive species. Why it remains commercially underutilized is a mystery. The wild creatures know it's a winner; the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation recognizes it as plant with special value to native bees. It's visited by wasps, flies, butterflies, and skippers. Several caterpillar species feed on the foliage, and Ruffed Grouse and Wild Turkey feed on the leaves and seeds. Tree Sparrow and White-footed mouse also eat the seeds.
As noted above, smooth blue aster can be distinguished from others in the genus primarily by the lack of hair on its stems and foliage. The leaves also tend to have grayish or bluish tints. The other asters have rough or fuzzy leaves and/or stems with hair. Also, Symphyotrichum laeve has leaves that clasp their stems rather than being attached via a petiole (leaf stalk) like the other asters in the genus.
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Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, LA, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY |
Arid West | FACU |
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain | UPL |
Eastern Mountains and Piedmont | FACU |
Great Plains | FACU |
Midwest | FACU |
Northcentral and Northeast | FACU |
Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast | FACU |
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 | Arecidae | |
Order | Asterales | |
Family | Asteraceae | Aster family |
Genus | Symphyotrichum | aster |
Species | Symphyotrichum laeve | smooth blue aster |
Aster falcidens
Aster laevis
Aster laevis var. falcatus
Aster steeleorum
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.