Flat-topped White Aster
Doellingeria umbellata
Broad platforms of white daisies in August and September, built for butterflies to land and linger. A 4 to 6 foot structural aster for moist sites.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 AM – 2 PM
Broad flat-topped white corymbs in late summer that serve as a literal butterfly landing platform during fall migration.
Flat-topped white aster is the tall, dramatic aster for moist sites that blooms in August and September when monarchs and fall migrators are moving through. The flowers are arranged in broad, flat-topped corymbs -- hundreds of small white daisies with yellow centers arranged in a wide platform that butterflies can land and feed from for long stretches without moving. On warm September mornings, a stand of this plant can look like a butterfly convention in progress. At four to six feet, it reads as a structural back-of-border plant in moist gardens, pond margins, and rain garden edges. The foliage is clean and attractive all season, and the dried seed heads carry into fall as bird food. A high-value, underplanted species that deserves far more attention in designed landscapes.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown flat-topped white 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.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 3–6 ft · 24–36 in wide
- Bloom time
- August–October
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Newfoundland south to Georgia and west to Minnesota and Kansas, in moist meadows, stream margins, and woodland edges
Care notes for flat-topped white aster.
Full to part sun in moist to average soil. Tolerates wet conditions and heavy clay with adequate drainage. Cut back in early spring. Self-seeds moderately in favorable conditions. Divide every four to five years to maintain vigor; established clumps are long-lived.
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