Aster ageratoides, sold in U.S. gardens as balsam aster, is a wild aster from eastern Asia that blooms late in the season, with violet-to-lavender flowers into November in Chicago-area gardens. It isn't native to North America.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A clump-forming perennial about 2–3 ft (60–90 cm) tall, making a bushy mound.
- Leaves
- Dark green, lance-shaped, and toothed.
- Flowers
- Intense violet buds open to lavender, blue, or purple flowers with yellow centers.
- Flowering time
- September–October in Chicago-area gardens, sometimes lasting into November or December. It is one of the latest asters to bloom.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Mountain slopes
- Gardens
- Range
- Native to eastern Asia: China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, usually in mountains. In the U.S. it is known as a garden perennial.
- Flowering
Flowers Sep–Nov
Flowers Sep–Nov
Growing it
- Care
- Grow in full sun. Gardening guides list it as hardy in roughly USDA zones 4–7, and some extend that to zone 9. It is a good late-season flower for pollinators.
Name and classification
- About the name
- A highly variable species that botanists divide into many varieties.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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