Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite'
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Raydon's Favorite' · Asteraceae
A billowing mound of small, scented leaves covered in lavender-blue daisies in October, long after most asters have finished.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid September to early November
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite'
The planner designed this bed around aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' × 1, blue
- 2 Blue fescue × 8, blue-green leaves
- 3 Sea thrift × 9, pink
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 White valerian × 3, white
- 6 Purple love grass × 3, purple
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 8 Pink lily leek × 12, pink
Why this plant
- The only blue.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to white valerian (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From mid September to early November.
- Closes the season. For its last six weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 58 to 42, left to right. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, sea thrift and blue fescue.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The best aster for poor, dry soil, and among the last to flower. It needs no staking if grown lean, and its clean foliage never mildews. Leave space: it grows as wide as it is tall.
- The last big show of autumn
- Dry, sunny banks
- Late nectar for migrating butterflies
What to plant with aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Pink muhly grass: in flower together for seven weeks, from mid September; happy in the same dry soil.
- Showy goldenrod: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks.
Questions about aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite'
Does aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' need sun or shade?
Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid September to early November. As an autumn flower it keeps much the same dates in every zone: it answers to shortening days and cool nights more than to the warmth of spring.
| Zone 3 | Mid September to early November |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid September to early November |
| Zone 5 | Mid September to early November |
| Zone 6 | Mid September to early November |
| Zone 7 | Mid September to early November |
| Zone 8 | Mid September to early November |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' look like in winter?
Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' good for bees and butterflies?
Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Symphyotrichum
- Aromatic aster 'October Skies' Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'October Skies'
- Aster 'Wood's Purple' Symphyotrichum 'Wood's Purple'
- Blue wood aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium
- Calico aster 'Lady in Black' Symphyotrichum lateriflorum 'Lady in Black'
- Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' Symphyotrichum ericoides 'Snow Flurry'
- New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
- New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Andenken an Alma Pötschke'
- New England aster 'Purple Dome' Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'
- New York aster Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
- Smooth aster 'Bluebird' Symphyotrichum laeve 'Bluebird'
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants that flower in fall
- Plants with blue flowers
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid September to early November; daisies; blue, lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- U.S.A. to North East Mexico
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.