Aster ‘Grape Crush’
* Common name: New England aster ‘Grape Crush’
Aster ‘Grape Crush’ is a heavy bloomer with dark purple flowers.
Credit: Jane Weigel
* Botanical name: Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Grape Crush’
* What it is: ‘Grape Crush’ is a recently introduced variety of our native New England aster that’s a very heavy bloomer and also compact enough that staking usually isn’t needed despite the many flowers.
This variety blooms in September and October with dark-purple, daisy-like flowers that almost completely cover the two-foot-tall mounds. The flowers are also a good source of late-season pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies.
Asters make good cut flowers.
* Size: Grows 26 to 30 inches tall with a three-foot spread.
* Where to use: Like most asters, ‘Grape Crush’ is a sun-lover that does best in damp, well drained soil, although it’s a drought-tough plant, too, once established. A mass or cluster of them adds fall impact to a sunny border, or ‘Grape Crush’ can be mixed into a sunny shrub and perennial garden. It’s a natural for a meadow and is compact enough to be spotted in south- or west-facing foundation beds.
Asters can tolerate occasional wet soil, so a rain garden is another possibility.
* 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.
Let the foliage stand over winter as a wildlife resource and then cut spent foliage to the ground in early spring before new growth begins.
Plants can be dug and divided in early spring if you want to expand your planting elsewhere.
* Great partner: To group ‘Grape Crush’ with other perennials blooming at the same time, try dwarf goldenrod, sedum, Montauk daisies, and/or pink or white mums.
Good texture partners are the native grasses switchgrass and little bluestem, which take on their fall-foliage color as ‘Grape Crush’ blooms. Eastern red cedar is a good native evergreen neighbor that also prefers full sun.