New England Aster

Late blooming purple native wildflowers with yellow centers grow about 5' tall and attract pollinators, including honey bees, pre-hibernation bumblebee queens, butterflies, and moths (including Wavy-Lined Emerald). The petals can vary in color from lavender, to purple, to violet. Grows well in full sun or light shade, and in most soils except for the driest, though it is fairly drought tolerant. Self-sows fairly readily, so remove the seedheads before they ripen if you'd like to limit reseeding. 

Days to maturity: 60-90

Seeds per pack: 475

Germination rate: 86% on 01/13/2025

Planting / harvesting notes

Plant in fall or spring, direct sown or indoors. Sow on the surface of moist, well-draining soils (or no more than 1/8" deep - they need light!) and keep them from drying out. Tamp down the seeds for good soil contact. If planting in the spring or summer, seeds benefit from an 8-week period of cold, moist stratification (mixed with damp sand or peat moss in a container in the fridge before sowing). If sowing indoors, sow seeds 6-8 weeks before your last frost. Harden off seedlings for 1-2 weeks and transplant 6-12" apart after danger of frost. If sowing outdoors in fall in an area that gets at least 8 weeks of cold, damp weather in the winter, they will be naturally cold stratified. 

Seed keeping notes

Harvest the seeds when the flowers have yielded to fluffy seedheads. Cut the stem many inches down and allow the seedheads to continue ripening indoors, upside-down in a paper bag. Thresh the seeds from the chaff by whacking the seedheads against the side of a bucket, and sift the seeds through a strainer to remove the bigger chaff. Use your breath, the wind, or a fan to remove the lighter weight chaff.