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Asteraceae
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Patience, farewell to summer, daintiness.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Symphyotrichum
- Native to
- Eastern and Central North America
- Bloom season
- Fall
- Type
- Perennial
- Height
- 90–180 cm (3–6 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Moist, fertile, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- Once classified as Aster novae-angliae, all American 'asters' were reassigned to the genus Symphyotrichum in the 1990s after DNA studies—a botanical shake-up that left gardeners grumbling.
- The flowers are one of the last great nectar sources before frost, fueling monarch butterflies on their 3,000-mile migration to Mexican overwintering grounds.
- Each 'flower' is actually a composite of dozens of tiny disk and ray florets—a single plant can produce 50,000 blooms in a season.
- September's birth flower, asters were placed on French soldiers' graves to symbolize a wish that things had turned out differently.
- The name 'aster' comes from the Greek for 'star,' and Roman legend says the flower sprang from the tears of the goddess Astraea when she wept over a starless world.
Color meanings
0
love
1
patience
2
remembrance