Plant This Aptly Named Flower In Any Hot, Sunny Spot For Fall Blooms

When exploring which plants to add to your garden, it's easy to get swept up by the ones with big and bold blooms or those that take up a lot of space. However, sometimes it's the small plants with delicate flowers that might well become the showstoppers. If you want a fall-blooming plant that doesn't take up a lot of space and can be planted in a sunny spot near a rockery or walkway, then this native variety of aster might be a great choice.

The white heath aster cultivar, 'Snow Flurry' (Symphyotrichum ericoides 'Snow Flurry'), is a good option if you want a long-lasting perennial that is full of beautiful white flowers come fall. It's a low-growing plant with bright green foliage that looks somewhat like a small juniper due to the way its stems grow and its relatively long, thin, and straight leaves. However, the difference becomes obvious once it starts to bloom.

'Snow Flurry' produces white, daisy-shaped flowers with yellow centers. They are pretty small, being less than half an inch wide. But they grow all over the plant in abundance, aptly looking like a flurry of snow, so they'll draw lots of attention, despite the plant's small profile. These flowers usually bloom at the end of summer or in the fall, depending on the weather and temperature.

'Snow Flurry' spreads out, with one plant easily reaching up to 24 inches. It doesn't get terribly tall, only about 8 inches at most. It's pretty versatile, and you can use it as a groundcover, part of a rock garden, or along the edge of a path. In fact, it's an easy-to-grow ground cover to smother weeds in your yard and garden, and pairs well with similar plants, such as dwarf plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) and moss phlox (Phlox subulata). Because 'Snow Flurry' willingly spreads over rocks, it can also work on hills to help with erosion control.

This cultivar of white heath aster prefers USDA hardiness zones 3 through 9. It thrives in full sun and likes soil that is well-drained and relatively dry. This means it does well in somewhat arid places, like rock gardens. The plant is drought-tolerant and doesn't mind growing in poor-quality soil. While it can tolerate some shade, flowering will be less prolific than a plant grown in a hot, sunny spot. You can plant it at pretty much any time of the year(in its preferred zones), and it should thrive in your garden.

Not only is this plant beautiful, but it is also easy and practical. It attracts birds and pollinators while mildly resisting deer and most diseases. As a North American native, it's found naturally as far north as Quebec and all the way down to Alabama. Its preferred environments seem to be savannas, near limestones, rocky forests, railroads, along roadsides, and across prairies. To add to its appeal, 'Snow Flurry' is a flowering ground cover that keeps butterflies coming to your yard into fall. While the species may be regarded as possibly aggressive, especially in the Nebraska region, you usually won't have any issues with the cultivar, but it helps to check with your local extension office, just to be on the safe side.

'Snow Flurry' does perfectly fine when grown in the ground, but it's also a good container plant with the branches eagerly spilling over the sides of the pot. Containers allow you to move your plant around more easily, or bring it in if you live in conditions that are a little too hot or cold. Some plants you can grow alongside this beautiful flower include wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), fringe bluestar (Amsonia ciliata), and fire pink (Silene virginica). It also works well beside other rocky soil thriving plants, such as a range of low-maintenance perennials that transform a sunny rock garden, like Agastache, creeping thyme, and penstemon.