Aster ‘Bluebird’
* Common name: Aster ‘Bluebird’
Aster ‘Bluebird’ in bloom. (Credit: Mt. Cuba Center)
* Botanical name: Symphyotrichum laevis ‘Bluebird’
* What it is: ‘Bluebird’ is a violet-blue-blooming variety of native aster that was the top-scoring aster in trials done at Delaware’s Mt. Cuba Center.
The inch-wide, daisy-like flowers appear from late summer into fall and are a highly attractive nectar source for monarchs and other late-season butterflies.
Asters are drought-tough in general, and ‘Bluebird’ also is noted for its clean, bug- and disease-resistant foliage.
* Size: Grows three to four feet tall. Space plants two to two-and-a-half feet apart.
* Where to use: ‘Bluebird’ is an excellent addition to a meadow planting but also works as a back-of-the-line perennial in any sunny border planting.
Full sun is best for the heaviest bloom. Asters tolerate average to dry sites and even damp sites so long as the soil isn’t soggy for long periods.
* Care: Keep the soil damp the first season to establish the roots, then water is usually not needed.
Scatter a balanced organic or slow-acting granular fertilizer formulated for flowers around the plants in early spring and again eight weeks later to encourage best blooming. However, asters usually flower reasonably well without any supplemental fertilizer.
Snip off ‘Bluebird’s’ flowers after they brown if you’re a neatnik; otherwise, let them stand all winter. Browned-out foliage clumps can be cut to the ground after a hard fall frost or, better yet, at the end of winter.
Plants sometimes need to be staked (especially in rich soil or shadier spots), or you can encourage stockiness by trimming plants by about a third to a half in late May.
Plants can be dug and divided in early spring if you want to contain spread or expand your planting elsewhere.
* Great partner: Switchgrass and little bluestem are good native-grass partners that turn color in fall as ‘Bluebird’ blooms. Goldenrod and perennial sunflowers are other native perennials that bloom at the same time. Eastern red cedar is a good native evergreen neighbor that also prefers full sun.