Aster laevis #1 (Smooth Aster)

Smooth Aster is a sturdy, strongly upright, sun-loving native wildflower. Its clusters of single, lavender-colored flowers with bright golden-yellow centers bloom from late summer into fall. It is a tough, easy-to-grow and adaptable plant with attractive blue-gray foliage that is clean, neat and tidy. The stout stems rarely need staking, but if a more compact, shorter blooming size is desired, the plants can be cut back by half in late spring.

Asters provide an invaluable source of late-season nectar and pollen for a myriad of insect pollinators. Many granivorous birds, such as juncos and goldfinches, will eat the seeds through the winter months. Asters are also larval host plants of many Lepidoptera, including the cartoonish-looking Saddleback Caterpillar and the familiar and loveable Woolly Bear caterpillar, which turns into the Isabella Tiger Moth. The caterpillars of the tiny Pearl Crescent and the Silvery Checkerspot butterflies overwinter on or near the base of the plants and emerge in the spring. Elusive but captivating Fork-tailed Katydids, Short-Winged Katydids and Blatchley’s Walkingsticks are also attracted to these Asters.

Sources:
Growing and Propagating Wildflowers by William Cullina
Missouri Botanical Garden
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Illinois Wildflowers