Note: Click on images to see enlarged photos, captions, and photo attributions.
On a mobile phone, click on the information symbol (circle with a letter ℹ︎ symbol).
Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants:
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets
Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic
Print Version (Legal Size):
Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster)
Formerly classified as Aster cordifolius, this native, found along forest edges and ledges in the eastern half of North America,* would be a welcome addition in a residential shade garden. When summer flowers are fading through mid fall, the delicate blue flowers of this prolific bloomer attract numerous pollinators.
*It is native in DC. In DE, it is uncommon in the Piedmont and rare in the Coastal Plain. It is scattered in MD and present in PA, mostly clustered in its southeastern counties. In VA, it is common in the mountains, frequent in the Piedmont, and infrequent to rare in the Coastal Plain. You can view the VA counties in which it has been reported here.