Covered with lavender-blue flowers, Raydon’s Favorite Aster steals the show in the fall.

• Excellent source of nectar for migrating monarch butterflies
• Drought tolerant
• Is slightly taller and blooms a week or two later than October Skies Aster

Details

• 3 feet tall and 3 to 5 ft. wide
• Perennial that dies down in the fall and emerges again in the spring
• Hardy in USDA hardiness zones 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

Flowering period

In central North Carolina, flowering begins in October and lasts around four weeks.

How to grow

Raydon’s Favorite Aster is easy to grow and thrives in well-drained soil. Avoid planting in wet soil and low lying areas. Plants produce more flowers and grow more compactly in full sun.

Care and maintenance

Cut plants down to ground level any time after a hard frost. To prevent older plants from splaying out, cut the stems back by half in June or July for a more compact habit.

Where to plant

It can be planted towards the back of the flower beds with Fireworks Goldenrod to create a memorable fall display.

When to plant

Anytime the ground isn’t frozen.

Spacing

4 to 5 feet apart when planting in groups.

When will my plant flower?

Plants purchased and planted before September will flower their first year.

Native habitat and range

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium is native to dry prairies and rocky slopes in scattered locations throughout the eastern and midwestern United States.

Source and origin

Plants are grown from cuttings here at the nursery. Thanks to Raydon Alexander, this outstanding Aster went from a pass-along plant in south Texas to national award-winning stature when he shared it with Holbrook Nursery. For those of you who are interested in the origins of plants, here is a link to the letter Raydon sent to Allen Bush of Holbrook Nursery with the plant in 1991.