Willowleaf Aster
Symphyotrichum praealtumnative · Hill Country
Willowleaf Aster is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 2–6 ft tall and 0.5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water. Blooms blue in Oct–Nov. Good for bees, birds, butterflies, caterpillars, moths and small mammals.
Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.
Will it grow in your yard?
Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Willowleaf Aster against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.
The facts
5 sources- Type
- Perennial wildflower
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (3–6 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Medium
- Height
- 2–6 ft
- Spread
- 0.5 ft
- Bloom
- Oct–Nov · blue
- Foliage
- Deciduous or dies back in winter
- Soil
- Recorded on loam, moist, sand
- Wildlife
- Supports bees, birds, butterflies, caterpillars, deer, moths and small mammals
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie
58 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.