Simmonds Aster is a beautiful Florida native with an outspread, branching habit and purple to lavender flowers. Simmonds Aster tolerates moist to drier soils and flowers best in the full sun. It attracts many native pollinators with its abundant blooms.
How to care for Simmonds Aster
Light. Full sun to part shade.
Water. In the wild it grows in sites ranging from moist to dry.
Soil and feeding. It grows in moist to dry calcareous (alkaline) soils, the kind common in South Florida.
Size. Grows to about 2–3 ft; wild plants can reach 4 ft.
Good to know. A Florida native found throughout the state, and most common in peninsular Florida. It spreads by long underground rhizomes into colonies. The small flowers have 18–38 pale lavender to lilac rays around a center that turns reddish with age, and appear from October through January.
Sources: Florida Wildflower Foundation: Simmond’s aster (Symphyotrichum simmondsii)
