Pam - Asters are definitely good ws material. I ordered from Everwilde this year and I noticed that all the seeds that don't require a cold period say "sow at 70 deg". Ignore that and ws away! With your ws containers covered, the soil in them will heat up faster in the spring than uncovered soil, so your seeds will germinate ealier than if you direct sow.

I'll warn you that asters have ridiculously low germination rates, so sow heavily!

~CA

Hi Pam,

If you look at teh FAQs you'll find seed lists you can check and see what will work for you in your zone. Asters are certainly on the lists ;-)

T

I was graciously sent some seeds of several different kinds of Asters this year and am looking forward to finally getting a bit of soil this weekend to sow them.

I did do some New York Asters last year and can't wait for the show this coming year!

sakura and trudi - Big thanks! I'll WS the perennial aster seeds tonight.

tiffy - if you think about it, I'd love to see how they look this year. Your gardens are great.

I have winter-sown 5 species of Asters (genus name changed to Symphyotrichum for many species - what a ridiculous name!!!). Sources vary from commercial, trade, and collected from the garden or wild.

Aster novae-angliae - New england
Aster oblongifolius - Aromatic aster
Aster laeve - Smooth blue aster
Aster cordifolius - blue wood aster
Aster azureus - sky blue aster

Had average or excellent germination on all but the A. azureus, which had zero germination and this was probably the seeds. Got new seeds and will try again this year. Asters do not need cold stratification, but you can sow them anytime. I have found they are easy to winter-sow and if you plant them out early they will bloom a little the first year.

I am also winter-sowing Aster divaricatus and Aster puniceus this year. I really like the native Asters because they provide lots of color in the fall and attract butterflies and bees.

They are butterfly magnets in the fall aren't they?

Thanks for putting the latin(?) names terrene, I have several that I've gotten out of other peoples gardens and don't know the names-and that bothers me!!LOL!!
-B

terrene: Thanks for the advice. I've added the species you grow to my list. I like native asters for the same reasons - they are fresh and bright when many other plants are waning. We have a long growing season so I'll hope for a few blooms.

I have a lot of volunteer seedlings of Aster novae-angliae or is it oblongifolius??? :-D Might be the latter.
Love them. They bloom, and bloom, and bloom.
Anybody wants some? I am potting them up for the swap.

There are dozens of native species, usually blooming late summer or fall, and they are excellent wildlife plants. Aside from pollinators, which are all over them when they bloom, they support many native insects and are host plants for a few butterflies. (Gardeners may wonder why it would be good for insects to eat the foliage of their perennials - however, butterfly and moth larvae need to eat the foliage to grow and these, along with other insects, are important food source for birds.)

New England aster is a tall growing pink or purple aster which prefers a medium-moist soil. Mine get 3-5 feet tall and usually flop. If I remember, I try to pinch them back in June. This species is also quite susceptible to mildew on lower foliage.

A. oblongifolius is a prairie aster which grows in drier conditions and much shorter - about 1 foot. Mine are lavender in color. Kinda bushy.

Below is a link to my Flickr album, which has pictures of some of the Asters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Native beauty

Even though my garden is just about full and I really don't plan on WSing next year, some of the seeds from Chiltern seed company have recently caught my attention.

They've got some really nice, diverse mixes of single species (or very closely related species) that they source from specialty hybridizers who are working with those species.

One of the mixes that really caught my interest is their Aster novae-belgii ÂNew Variations mix. Thought you might like that one too.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Aster novae-belgii New Variations