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New England aster

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae · Asteraceae

New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) in flower
Photo: The Cosmonaut, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5 ca)

A tall native that closes the season with clouds of purple or pink daisies. It's an important late food source for migrating monarch butterflies.

Size
4 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
Zones
3 to 8
Light
Full sun
Flowers
Early September to mid October
Pets
No toxicity recorded
Job in a bed
Drift

A bed built around New England aster

The planner designed this bed around New England aster when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why New England aster stands where it does.

A 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) bed at eye level in late September: New England aster, Winter heath, Bloody cranesbill, Blue rush 'Blue Arrows', Gray's sedge, Blue-eyed grass, Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie', Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'.
A 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun, seen from the path in late September.
1. New England aster14. Blue rush 'Blue Arrows'44. Blue rush 'Blue Arrows'44. Blue rush 'Blue Arrows'43. Bloody cranesbill33. Bloody cranesbill33. Bloody cranesbill32. Winter heath22. Winter heath22. Winter heath22. Winter heath22. Winter heath23. Bloody cranesbill33. Bloody cranesbill35. Gray's sedge55. Gray's sedge55. Gray's sedge56. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass66. Blue-eyed grass67. Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'77. Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'77. Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'78. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'8. Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'
From above, to scale. Each circle is one plant, as wide as the room it needs.

The plants

  1. 1 New England aster × 1, purple
  2. 2 Winter heath × 5, pink
  3. 3 Bloody cranesbill × 5, white
  4. 4 Blue rush 'Blue Arrows' × 3, blue-green leaves
  5. 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
  6. 6 Blue-eyed grass × 22, blue
  7. 7 Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie' × 3, orange
  8. 8 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 12, blue

Why this plant

  • The only daisies. The others are bells, open bowls, globes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
  • The only purple.

Why here

  • Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant 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 blue-eyed grass (14 in): 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 six weeks. From early September to mid October.
  • Closes the season. For its last three weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.

Planned as a cottage garden: 30 of the 39 plants (77%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Something is in flower for 37 weeks, from late January to mid October. Blue-eyed grass repeats along the bed to tie it together.

The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. 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 New England aster goes in a border

At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).

Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.

It closes the season in purple when most of the border is fading. The lower stems go bare and brown, so hide them behind a mid-height plant such as black-eyed Susan. Cut it back by half in early summer for a shorter, bushier plant that needs no staking.

  • The last big show of the year
  • Late nectar for migrating butterflies and bees
  • The back of a sunny border or a meadow planting

What to plant with New England aster

Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:

  • Black-eyed Susan: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for three weeks; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
  • Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
  • Joe Pye weed 'Gateway': in flower together for two weeks, from early September; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.

Choosing between it and a look-alike? New England aster vs Aromatic aster 'October Skies'.

Questions about New England aster

Does New England aster need sun or shade?

New England aster grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).

It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.

What zones does New England aster 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 New England aster flower in my zone?

In zone 5 it flowers early September to mid October. 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.

Roughly when New England aster is in flower
Zone 3Early September to mid October
Zone 4Early September to mid October
Zone 5Early September to mid October
Zone 6Early September to mid October
Zone 7Early September to mid October
Zone 8Early September to mid October

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 New England aster be planted?

2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.

It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.

How many New England aster 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 New England aster 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 New England aster?

They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.

Will New England aster spread?

It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Self-seeds readily. Cut it back after flowering to limit seedlings.

What flowers after New England aster?

New England aster is over by mid October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:

What does New England aster look like in winter?

New England aster 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 New England aster good for bees and butterflies?

New England aster is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, beneficial insects and songbirds.

It is a host plant: the caterpillars of pearl crescent feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.

It is native to the United States and Canada.

More Symphyotrichum

In these guides

Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8

In flower in: September · October

Every fact on record

Type
Perennial
Size
4 ft (120 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
Plant
2½ ft (75 cm) apart
Height class
Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
Place in the bed
Back
Flowers
Early September to mid October; daisies; purple, pink
Leaves
Medium texture, herbaceous; green
Shape
Upright, self-seeding
Hardy in
USDA zones 3 to 8
Light
Full sun
Soil
Average, evenly moist
Water
Moderate
Feeding
None needed
Family
Asteraceae
Comes from
Eastern North America
Attracts
Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, beneficial insects, songbirds
Host plant for
Pearl crescent

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.