Smooth aster
A North American aster with lavender-blue flowers in late summer and autumn; it supplies nectar and pollen while winter bees are being raised.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.6-1.2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Smooth aster is an aster from the North American prairies grown as an ornamental in European gardens. Its lilac-blue ray florets and yellow-centred heads are a nectar and pollen source for bees at the end of the season. Its smooth, bluish-grey leaves give it its name.
Flowering
It flowers from late August to October. Fresh pollen is valuable at this time because colonies are rearing the long-lived bees that will overwinter. It does best in a sunny, dry spot in well-drained soil.
Honey and pollen
Since it is grown on a garden scale, its contribution to honey is small; its main importance is late-season pollen.
Note for the beekeeper
Some American asters of the same group, such as S. novi-belgii and S. lanceolatum, have become invasive along rivers in Europe. This species is not clearly invasive, but cutting it back before it sets seed is a prudent practice near natural areas.