Aromatic Aster is an absolute workhorse in a sunny, well-drained garden. It will spread to fill gaps throughout the summer with low, mounding, deer-proof, and fragrant foliage. Then, it packs a powerful periwinkle punch late in the season. The flowers will often continue to pop until the end of fall, offering a continuously stunning contrast with the fall colors of surrounding deciduous trees and shrubs (personally, we find it especially nice paired with yellow). ‘Twilight Sky’ is a Mt. Cuba introduction with a tighter mounding shrub-like habit and it's somehow, miraculously, even more floriferous.
Conditions: Full sun; dry to medium moisture soils
Size: 3'-4' tall; 1.5'-2' wide
Zone: 5 - 9
Wildlife Value: Flowers attract various bees, hover flies, and butterflies; seed provide food for birds
Photo: Samantha Nestory