The Native Plant Store can Now be Found Here

  • This page will remain accessible as a library page until I have all the species moved to the new page and all the quirks worked out in the new software so it can function as a searchable library.
  • Please see the Using the Plant Library  page  for some tips on how to make the most of the information in this existing library to select species for creating a healthy native plant community suited to the conditions of your site.

Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, Panicled Aster

Symphyotrichum lanceolatum

Panicled Aster

  • Full sun to partial shade
  • Dry, average or wet soils
  • 30" to 60" in height. Vigorous spreaders.
  • Meadow or open woodland settings. May overwhelm in a conventional garden but would l ikely be fine in a mixed pollinator patch with other Asters, Milkweed and Goldenrod.

They thrive in part shade and in full, hot sun. They will grow in seasonally flooded areas, alongside wetland species like Joe-Pye-Weed and in dry settings, like along old parking lots and gravely ditches. The patches in the shade grow to 3-4’ in height, have an open airy form and spread quite quickly by rhizomes -every spring I dig a bunch that run about 4’ into the vegetable garden each year, pulling the long rhizomes with their centipede leg like side roots before planting the seeds for the annual crops.

The patches that I’ve seen in hot, dry, sunny areas grow to 2’ to 3’ in height and tend to form much denser patches. Their form is also much denser, creating an entirely different visual texture than those in moisture rich settings. These patches don’t seem to have the same rate of spread, seeming to form shorter rhizomes and completely filling the space, rather than wandering everywhere but leaving plenty of room for neighbours of other species.

Given their adaptability, I’d be inclined to include these in both wet and dry meadow planting, in sandy or clay-based soils. I’ve also seen them thriving is slightly acidic soils and in fairly shallow soils over limestone.

I do suspect that they are a bit too outgoing for most conventional garden settings, but if you don’t mind lots of exuberance, I wouldn’t tell you not to plant them.


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Species that were not sown / aren't being sown for 2023 are marked with an * 
Species that are native to this continent, but not historically native to Ontario are marked with a ~ 
While it rarely comes up, I do reserve the right to limit plant quantities, mostly to help ensure that as many native plant gardens as possible become a reality
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