Aster, Tatarian Aster, Tatarian Daisy 'Jin-dai'

It is blooming now in my garden. Seed brought by the bird. It sprouted and I noticed the foliage was different so I allowed it to grow. W...Read Moreow! It bloomed beautiful flowers and I had it ID'ed, so glad I did not pulled it out! So many tiny pollinators are on the blooms！Love it！

This is tied with aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius = Symphiotrichum oblongifolium) for last plant to bloom in my fall garden. Blooms O...Read Morectober to frost, here in Boston Z6a. The flower color is blue-violet, with a gold center. The stems and flowers dry well in the garden and look good into winter.

Basal foliage is big and bold, resembling that of horseradish---up to 6" wide and 2' long. Great for textural contrast all through the summer and fall.

Foliage turns yellow and purple in late fall.

This species spreads aggressively underground, and can pop up 18" or so from existing plants. To contain it, I cut the bottom out of a 10 gal black plastic pot and sank it to the rim, then planted in it.

Though this cultivar is shorter than the species, it's still tall---stems can reach 6'. Stems are strong and rarely need staking in full sun.

In my Southern Virginia garden, the Tatarian aster has thrived and spread. It is healthy and attractive. It is a good cottage garden pl...Read Moreant, but not a good plant for a hyper tidy controlled garden. If spreading is not desired, some sort of landscape barrier strip (several inches into the soil around the plant) should be used. It's the kind of plant that can be dug up to be shared with other gardeners.

*Tartarian is a misspelling of the common name.

This cultivar is smaller than the species, and was selected from seedlings...Read More found in a botanical garden near Tokyo, Japan.