Growth habit: Perennial. May need staking in windy areas.

Height: 30 - 90 cm

Spread: 30 - 90 cm

Bloom Time: August - September

Bloom Colour: Various shades of purple-blue

Light: Semi- shade to full sun

Moisture: Prefers damp areas in the wild but adapts to regular moisture conditions in gardens and can tolerate periods of drought.

Soil: Average garden soil

Seeding: Aster seeds need a period of cold moist stratification to germinate. Detailed instructions are on the Growing From Seed Guidelines and Different Methods for Stratifying Native Seeds pages.

Landscape uses: Middle to back of beds. Provides big splashes of late summer and fall colour. Suitable for acreages and urban gardens. Suggested spacing of multiple plants is 45 cm. They spread by short rhizomes into a larger patch and are easy to dig out and transplant. This plant rarely self-seeds.

Interesting features: If left to stand, the snow-covered stalks and seed heads form interesting shapes in the winter landscape.

Natural habitat: Open woodlands and edges. Plants in the wild may look quite different than those planted in the home garden due to natural competition and other uncontrolled environmental aspects.

Ecology: Asters support a wide variety of wildlife. They are host plants for some species of butterfly and the flowers are an important late summer source of nectar for many pollinators. The sheer number of flowers on a single Lindley's Aster plant makes it a very energy efficient pollen and nectar source. Native bumblebee queens rely on aster flowers in late fall to build their energy reserves for overwintering. Resident songbirds may eat the seeds in winter.