# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DTswAd4Eifd
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/55035687-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ba4cd093b8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-19T16:37:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

*NATIVE PLANT OF THE WEEK*⁠
⁠
Winter can feel long, especially when the garden is quiet and color feels like a distant memory. This is the moment when it helps to remember what carried the garden through just a few months ago—and what will do it again next year. Enter aromatic aster.⁠
⁠
Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Zones 4–9)⁠
⁠
If fall belongs to asters, this is one of the standouts. Aromatic aster is native to much of the U.S. and blooms late, with clouds of small lavender-blue flowers that open in September and often linger into November. It’s a magnet for butterflies and other pollinators at a time when nectar is scarce.⁠
⁠
In winter, its value doesn’t disappear. Seedheads feed birds, and standing stems provide shelter for stem-nesting native bees—quiet work happening while the rest of the garden rests.⁠
⁠
Where it comes from⁠
Native to open woodlands, prairies, and rocky outcrops from the Mid-Atlantic south to North Carolina and west to Montana and New Mexico.⁠
⁠
At a glance:⁠
 1–2 feet tall⁠
 Mounding, bushy habit⁠
 Leaves are aromatic when crushed; flowers are not⁠
 Forms clumps and spreads readily where happy⁠
⁠
Growing basics:⁠
 Full sun⁠
 Thrives in poor, dry soils⁠
 Adaptable to many soil types if drainage is good⁠
 Drought tolerant and coastal tolerant⁠
 Rarely troubled by pests or disease⁠
⁠
Wildlife support:⁠
 Leave seedheads for birds⁠
 Leave stems standing through winter for native bees⁠
⁠
Design notes⁠
Plant in masses for the best effect, but give it space away from paths—it likes to roam. Pairs beautifully with fall-blooming goldenrods and rudbeckias, and with short native grasses like little bluestem, which turns copper as the season cools.⁠
⁠
Notable selections include ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ (up to 3 feet tall) and ‘October Skies’ (a compact 18 inches).⁠
⁠
If you’re craving spring right now, think of aromatic aster as a reminder—this garden knows how to show up when it counts.⁠
⁠
⁠
#nativeplants #ahsgardening #americangardener #gardening #americanhorticulturalsociety⁠
⁠
Photos (all iNaturalist)⁠
Mcoleman24⁠
Heaneypm⁠
myfivechildren⁠
⁠
⁠

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 109
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

gardening, ahsgardening, americanhorticulturalsociety, nativeplants, americangardener

---
Copyright (c) Gondola