Aromatic Aster 'Raydon's Favorite'

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Raydon's Favorite'

'Raydon's Favorite' is the most widely recommended cultivar of Aromatic Aster. selected for more compact, self-supporting growth, more saturated blue-violet flower color, and slightly later bloom timing that extends the fall season into late October. Rub a leaf and you'll get the same pleasant resinous fragrance that gives this species its common name. a fragrance that carries in the autumn air on warm afternoons when the flowers are fully open. In late September and October this plant becomes a butterfly landing strip. Monarchs on migration, painted ladies, sulphurs, and an enormous cast of native bees work the flowers every warm afternoon until the temperature drops. It stays mounded and self-supporting without staking, tolerates drought and lean soil, and is essentially problem-free in full sun. One of the plants we recommend most consistently for any new native garden.