Calico Aster is a powerhouse perennial often forgotten by gardeners during planting season. The small, purple-tinged flowers are charming individually, but step back and suddenly the hundreds of tiny blooms clustered along the stems provide some true floral fireworks. The bushy habit of this aster adds bulk to a perennial border or woodland edge. But the sensory highlight of this plant might not even be how it looks, but how it sounds. On a sunny September afternoon, a single Calico Aster can literally buzz with the activity of hundreds of bees, hover flies, flower beetles, skippers, and butterflies, all vying for a taste of the nutrient-rich pollen and a sip of the sweet nectar.
The Calico Aster we are offering were seed grown from a local population on one of our beautiful preserves in Montgomery County, PA.
Conditions: Full sun to part shade; moist to average soil
Size: 2' - 3' tall, 2' - 3' spread
Zone: 4 - 8
Wildlife Value: Flowers attract many butterflies, hover flies, pollinating wasps, and native bee species, including several pollen specialists; larval host for over 100 butterflies and moth species
Photo: Stephanie Harvey