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Mertensia virginica en masse.
Mertensia virginica en masse. Photo © Mary Free
You are here: Home / Plants / Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic / Perennials / Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster)

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster)

Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster. leaves in April
Blue Wood aster adds architectural interest to a garden
Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster flowers and sharply pointed phyllaries enclosing buds
A honey bee (Apis mellifera) and gold-green sweat bee (Augochlora pura) feed on Symphyotrichum cordifolium (blue wood aster).
Ailanthus webworm moth feeding on Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster) flowers in October. 2019-10-07, Arlington, Virginia.
American lady butterfly feeding on Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster) flowers in October. 2019-10-07, Arlington, Virginia.
Female orange sulfur (Colias eurytheme) butterfly feeding on Symphyotrichum cordifolium (blue wood aster) in October.
Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster, flowers
Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster

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Symphyotrichum cordifolium Blue Wood or Heart-leaved Aster Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic 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. Perennial Height: 3–5 feet Foliage, Flowers w/ Pollinators,** En Masse, Fruit Spread: 2–3 feet Bloom Color: Blue-violet to lavender Characteristics Many branched, upright, herbaceous perennial Heart-shaped and toothed lower leaves and narrow and smaller upper leaves 1⁄2-inch, composite flowers (yellow disks mature to purple-red) bloom in delicate, dense clusters August to October followed by glabrous cypsela Light-green to reddish brown branched stems Spreads by rhizome and self-seeding Attributes Tolerates clay, drought; sensitive to poor air circu- lation, waterlogging; no serious pests or diseases Deer occasionally to frequently severely damage Ethnobotanic uses Attracts bees, wasps, Lepidoptera, and other beneficial insects to the flowers and leafcutter bees, small mammals, and deer to the foliage Growing and Maintenance Tips Soil Requirements: Moist, rich, well-drained Light Requirements: Partial Shade, Shade Water Requirements: Dry, Moist Plant height (and need to stake) can be reduced by cutting back stems before mid-July Cut stems after flowering to control self-seeding Excellent Replacement for Anemone hupehensis, A. x hybrida, A. tomentosa - Japanese Anemones Anemone vitifolia - Grape-leaved Anemone Dendranthema - Hardy Garden Mums *It is native in DC. In DE, it is uncommon in the Piedmont and rare in the Coastal Plain. It is scattered throughout PA but mostly clustered in the southeastern and southwestern counties of the State. In VA, it is common in the mountains, frequent in the Piedmont, and infrequent to rare in the Coastal Plain. ** Common eastern bumble bee and orange sulphur butterfly. Use in butterfly and woodland gardens Hardiness: USDA Zones 3–8 developed by Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, serving Arlington and Alexandria Images by Mary Free, Quarry Shade Garden and private garden, Arlington, VA

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Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic

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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 throughout PA but mostly clustered in the southeastern and southwestern counties of the State. In VA, it is common in the mountains, frequent in the Piedmont, and infrequent to rare in the Coastal Plain.

Video © Mary Free 
Watch pollinators on Symphyotrichum cordifolium in September and October as they “dance to the background music” of nature and an Arlington neighborhood. Although tiny sweat bees and mining bees can be seen flitting about in the introductory clips, they are neither included in the close-ups nor identified in the closing credits. Learn more about Pollinators.
Video © Mary Free 
Besides late season color, native asters provide important nourishment for pollinators, unlike non-native chrysanthemums so common in autumn gardens. Asters attract a myriad of bees, wasps, flies, and Lepidoptera. Butterflies, like monarchs and eastern tiger swallowtails, prefer larger flowered asters, like Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, while ailanthus webworm moths, and skipper, orange sulfur, American lady, and American copper butterflies, the latter seen in this video, also flock to asters with small flowers like Symphyotrichum cordifolium. Learn more about Pollinators.
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