If you walk in front of our house these days you’re likely to be impressed by the masses of Aster flowers, most notably those of Short’s Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii).
Short’s Aster is a particularly floriferous Aster, sporting clouds of light blue flowers with golden centers. Honestly, I don’t understand why this particular Aster isn’t more popular. You can get it from native plant nurseries, but you never see it at garden centers.
Short’s Aster has a shrubby habit that I appreciate, with wiry stems that do not flop. Though I confess that so far I have not succeeded in shaping it into the smooth cloud-like shapes I dream of.
A lone Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia) pushes through a crowd of Short’s Aster.
There are more masses of Short’s Aster on what I call The Left Bank Bed, on the far side of the Driveway.
Here you can see how the Left Bank Bed encompasses Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) and Starry Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum stellatum) along with the Short’s Aster. At the far end, there is Rue (Ruta graveolens), Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), and ‘Italian White’ Sunflower (Helianthus annuus).
One last picture highlighting the ‘Italian White’, which is my favorite annual sunflower.
I wish you a happy October, full of more aster blooms than you could possibly count!
gardeninacity 
A happy October to you, too, and to your family! May it bring good things. The asters do make for a lovely blue low-lying cloud.
I’m always a bit sad when the asters and goldenrod come in, because it means summer is ending. But they certainly put on a wonderful show. Clouds of blue!
Your asters are beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Wishing you a good October.
The asters hail the fall season. A good October to you, too!
I sure would be impressed by that purple cloud of beauty.
It is pretty stunning in person.
I bet!
Wow! I’m impressed by your sheer volume of asters. They’re gorgeous!
They spread! There are a lot of them!
You recommended Short’s aster a few years ago and I ordered it. Before the obliteration by bindweed In my garden, it was as pretty as yours! Well done.
Bindweed is pretty aggressive stuff.
More asters than I could ever imagine! Wonderful! What amazes me is how beautiful all your native plants are. I have so few European plants in my garden. I read a book “The Brother Gardeners” by Andrea Wulf (I think you might enjoy it). She writes about the British obsession with gardening and documents the plant collecting of the eighteeenth century. The British plant collectors scoured the world and you have the choice of so many beautiful native plants. Amelia
We loved the British gardens we saw when we were in England a few years ago. Especially Great Dixter – such an overwhelming profusion of color and shapes and textures.
British gardens have many more species of plants and trees than any gardens I have visited in France. There is a great love for gardens of all shapes and sizes in the U.K. Amelia
We have so many different asters here it’s almost impossible to know what they all are but I do like yours.
Jason remembers all their names, but I don’t.
Just gorgeous! The deer eat all my asters, darn it!
We are so happy not to have deer! The rabbits are bad enough.
I love asters, here in Canberra they survive heat and frost … they flower more than most other plants… yours look lovely.
Your climate in Canberra is a good bit more mild than ours, I think? I subscribed to Gardening Australia on Facebook last year to see more flowers during our winter. But there were so many posts about poisonous snakes and spiders!
We don’t get your long cold winters. Yes there are poisonous snakes in Australia, but I have never come across a snake in all my time of gardening. Yes, we do have quite a range of spiders too, maybe I should write a post about them too!
That purple and gold combination just knocks me out. And I really do like the little asters. We have some natives that bloom well into December in the marshes, and sometimes even longer. S. ericoides might be my favorite, with disc florets that turn from yellow to the prettiest pinkk.
I know I couldn’t take Texas in the summer, but my (former) travels to warmer climates in the winter were certainly nice. The idea of asters in December is lovely.
Wishing you the same Jason! I have never seen this aster on sale here either, but we do have so many to choose from.
There are certainly a great many species and cultivars.
Wow! So many! That’s quite a show. I’ll echo Shoreacres in complimenting the purple and gold, a truly beautiful combo. My asters have buds, no blooms yet–but soon! Lovely photos!
What a gorgeous sight! I’m smitten by asters too and to my absolute delight they’re hybridising freely in the garden and some lovely varieties (yet to be named 😉 ) have come up. One looks very much like S. shortii in your garden. Happy autumn days 🙂
Beautiful! I have had short’s aster here and there around my garden but mostly hated it all season and barely enjoyed it this season until my neighbors showed me how they sheer them two times through the summer. (Is that what you did?) They now have abundant clouds of bloom like this! My eyes are opened. I’ve planted more, and will cut them back twice, and eagerly anticipate my own purple cloud.
Jason says he partially shears it in early summer – not all of it, so he ends up with different heights.
Ah, that is smart. Thanks for letting me know!
I really do like that aster–especially when paired with the goldenrod. That shade of blue is breathtaking!
Isn’t it a stunning color. There is something about certain shades of blue, they are just delightful.
WOW, quite the display of asters. I love it. Makes me want some of those beauties.
I’m sure you need some asters!
Italian White! It is one of my favorites too, even though it is not exactly white. However, there are yellow and orange sunflowers that I think are awesome too. (Yellow and orange just seem like ‘natural’ colors for sunflower.)
There is something about the Italian whites. As you say, they are really cream – but so beautiful.
Such pretty fall colors! I have very little still blooming right now, but enough to keep some cheer out there. Love the asters, may need to add them back. somewhere along the line they died out.
Jason says you are in DuPage – I’m surprised you are a bit ahead of us, not having much color left. I’m not a fan of fall, because I can’t stay in the moment, I’m always thinking of how winter is next. This year especially! But fall does have its pleasures.
I think the drought hit us really hard this summer/fall and threw the timing off for a lot of the plants. They, like us, seem to be under a lot of stress. Ugh winter, I’m in denial. Thinking of you both and hope things are going as well as they can be.
The drought here was so bad, Jason actually watered some. Not a lot. Some plants definitely turned brown a little early.
Your neighbors should drop off donations for plant purchases because of all the beauty you bring to their neighborhood. 🙂
Happy October to you too, Jason! Although I hope things slow down a little. This first week of October was a little too crazy for me, quite honestly. Those Asters are lovely, to say the least. The second to last image made me smile. I have some version of almost all those plants in my sunny community garden. The only thing missing is the Maianthemum! 😀
Tis the season for Aster. I wonder why more people don’t use them. So easy to grow, so airy of a display. It helps to stretch the season into fall… what’s not to love.
Your asters are gorgeous, I wish they would grow for me.xxx
Wow! It must be an excellent autumn for asters, they look great. I’m going to keep an eye out for that one. I have a lot of white and pale blue asters just seeding around, but some blue would be a nice addition.
Italian White looks very ethereal in your picture. I can see why you’d like it.
It is a flower that blooms unexpectedly when most flowering plants are getting ready for dormancy and is appreciated all the more for its brave arrival!
Your gardens are beautiful. This is the first year my asters have really bloomed. I am thrilled with them, and the seeds are now providing meals for house finches.
so lovely!