White Wood Aster
Eurybia divaricata
Airy white flowers on near-black zigzag stems light up dry shade in September and October, when almost everything else has faded.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Fall bloom in dry shade -- the one place the garden most needs color and the one condition this aster handles best.
White wood aster is the fall answer for dry, shaded spaces where almost nothing else will bloom. It emerges from dark, wiry stems -- often nearly black -- that zigzag in a distinctive pattern, giving the plant an architectural quality even before the small white flowers with yellow centers open in September and October. The flowers cover the plant in a loose, airy spray that lights up dark corners of the woodland garden when everything else is fading. This is one of the most shade- and drought-tolerant native perennials that actually blooms in fall. It spreads steadily by rhizome to form a colony under trees and adapts to dry shade conditions that even hostas struggle with. Chickadees and small sparrows pick through the seed heads through winter. An essential plant for making the fall woodland garden feel alive.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown white wood aster propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant white wood aster instead of Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis) in dry shade gardens. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Part sun
- Water
- Dry
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft · 18–30 in wide
- Bloom time
- September–October
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Ontario south to Georgia and Alabama, primarily in dry to moist deciduous woodlands
Care notes for white wood aster.
Part sun to full shade in dry to average soil. The most drought and shade tolerant fall-blooming native perennial available. Spreads by rhizome -- allow to naturalize freely in shade gardens. Cut back in spring. Division every four to five years if needed.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside white wood aster.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.