Asters are the classic fall-blooming perennials, native daisies that save their show for the end of the year. As summer fades they open masses of small, starry flowers, from deep violet and clear blue to pink and white, on plants that range from low, mounding cushions to airy, waist-high sprays. Where the spring and summer border winds down, asters are only getting started.

In the landscape they are the plants that keep a garden alive into October and beyond. Massed, they read as drifts of soft color under a low autumn sun; woven through a border, they pick up the season as other flowers fade; and in a meadow or naturalistic planting, they are indispensable for late structure and bloom. Pair them with grasses and other fall plants and the garden ends the year on a high note.

We grow asters for their beauty and their outsized value at a critical time. Late-season flowers are a lifeline for the butterflies, native bees, and migrating monarchs that need fuel for winter or the journey south, and few plants feed them as generously. Native, tough, and easy in ordinary soil, asters are as good for the wild garden as for the border.

Give them sun and reasonable drainage, and a light pinch in early summer keeps them bushy and full of bloom. Weave them through our Herbaceous Perennials and Grasses and Bamboos for a lasting fall planting, and find more regional perennials in our Southeastern Natives.