The Aromatic Fall Flower That'll Have Butterflies Flocking To Your Garden

Nothing makes a garden feel a little empty like walking past your flowers and seeing no butterflies in sight. The blooms may be colorful, the beds tidy, but without those flitting wings, your garden is missing something alive. Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) is the perennial plant that'll have butterflies flocking to your garden. This low, bushy plant usually stays under 2 feet tall and wide, forming a neat, compact mound that looks great at the front of beds or along garden edges. 

Aromatic aster has stiff, hairy stems that have small, daisy-like flowers with violet-blue rays and bright yellow centers, adding subtle bursts of color to the autumn landscape. It is native to limestone glades, slopes, prairies, and dry open ground, and blends naturally into both wild and cultivated gardens. Aromatic aster's compact shape, fragrant foliage, and delicate blooms make it a visual delight and a magnet for butterflies, turning your garden into a lively fall haven.

Aromatic aster waits until late in the season to bloom, and that timing makes it especially valuable for butterflies. When most flowers have faded, it bursts with color and offers nectar just when pollinators need it most. When you crush a leaf, you'll notice its subtle herbal scent, a small detail that sets it apart from other fall plants. 

Butterflies use aromatic aster in more than one stage of life. Its foliage feeds the caterpillars of painted ladies, pearl crescents, and silvery checkerspots. Later in the year, when aromatic aster flowers open, adults return to feed in large numbers. On aromatic aster's variety 'Raydon's Favorite,' it's common to see checkered whites, fiery skippers, dainty sulphurs, orange sulphurs, eastern tailed blues, buckeyes, monarchs, pearl crescents, Melissa blues, and American ladies all nectaring at once. That's what makes it a pollinator-favorite flower that'll add a gorgeous autumn glow to your garden.

Aromatic aster can find a home in almost any style of garden, including rock gardens, cottage borders, pollinator beds, naturalized meadows, and prairie plantings. It does best in full sun, but it will also tolerate a few hours of shade each day as long as the soil drains well. This plant handles a wide range of conditions, thriving in USDA Zones 3 to 8, from northern gardens to southern ones. Blooming from late summer through mid-fall, aromatic aster is one of the best ways to attract and keep monarch butterflies when most other plants have finished. Starting aromatic aster from seed isn't easy, but once plants are established, they're low-maintenance.

By October and November, they're often completely covered in blooms, turning into one of the most eye-catching plants in the fall garden. With the first hard freeze, the stalks will die back, but you have options. You can cut them down right away for a tidy look, or leave them through winter and trim them in spring. Even after the flowers fade, their low rosettes hold their shape and work well as a winter groundcover. Planting spring bulbs between the rosettes creates a natural transition, keeping your beds interesting year-round.