Wood’s Blue Aster

Blue is a color you simply can’t have too much of in the garden – it is so versatile and blends so well with every other color. So why let fall go by without a splash of blue? You won’t have to with Wood’s Blue Aster. A compact, mounding perennial to 16 inches tall, the star-like flowers are just an inch across, but carried in such profusion it’s a blue explosion. Their gorgeous warm violet-blue flowers begin to open in late summer, and reach their glory all through fall. A perfect size for edging beds, lining a path or growing in a pot by the door, this is a way to extend the flowering season that is easy and very effective. Blooming among the falling leaves they look so charming it takes your breath away. Easy to grow and trouble-free, these are plants, along with the companion Wood’s Pink and Wood’s Purple, that belong in every garden.

• Rounded mound of beautiful violet-blue flowers
• Blooms in fall to extend the flower season
• Short size for edging beds, along paths or in pots
• Attracts butterflies
• Easy to grow and long-lived

Wood’s Blue Aster will grow best in full sun, but a couple of hours of shade each day won’t really hurt. Plant it in almost any soil, although it perhaps does best in moist, well-drained, fairly rich soils. Established plants are drought resistant, and it even grows in wet ground and enjoys alkaline soils. Deer and rabbits, as well as pests or diseases, almost never bother it. It tolerates salt-spray too, so grows well at a coastal cottage. Cut off the old flowering stems in late fall or early spring – that’s it for the year. Work a mixture of soil and compost into the top of old clumps to regenerate them.