I bet a lot of people have this growing on their property and just don't know it. I think I may have some growing along the back of my field near the stream, but haven't studied it close enough for a certain ID. I have something close at least.

I am constantly finding plants that I didn't know I had until someone brings my attention to them.

Last year I bought a gallon-sized plant labelled 'Wood's Blue Aster' and put it in a semi-shady spot. Beautiful flowers this fall, but kind of a floppy plant. I plan on cutting it back early next spring to prevent the floppies. The leaves are long and slender, not heart-shaped. It looked nice planted near my pineapple sage, which bloomed at the same time this fall. Would like to hear more about the heart-shaped variety--guess I need to do more research! Laura

Blue Wood Aster (used to be Aster cordifolius but is now Symphyotrichum cordifolium due to the unceasing industry of our taxonomic friends) is a common woodland aster in Tennessee. It has an arching habit that makes it particularly pretty coming over walls or planted on a bank. Typical height at the top of the arch is about 2 ft; the arching habit makes it cover maybe 2 to 2 1/2 ft out from the base of the plant, and it arches toward the sun rather than all the way around the plant, making it a bit one-sided by nature. It's easy to grow in ordinary soil. The species doesn't require huge amounts of water but it avoids dry woods -- say, the top third of a wooded hill -- in the wild, indicating it does want some moisture. Another clue is that you'll find it growing luxuriantly in shady creek bottoms. I've used it in wooded landscape designs and like to plant it in drifts, where it provides a lovely lavender-blue splash in mid-fall.

There's a very similar, equally garden-worthy woodland aster that's also quite common hereabouts: Short's Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii). Same basic habit and flower color, but it grows taller and a bit more upright. Also slightly more tolerant of dryer situations in my opinion. The easiest way to tell Blue Wood from Short's is by looking at the leaves. Blue Wood has distinct teeth on its heart-shaped leaves, and Short's longer, narrower leaf has a smooth edge.

Laurakm, your 'Wood's Blue' Aster is a different entity, despite the confusing similarity in name. This one is a garden-derived cultivar, usually thought to be a form of Aster (yeah, Symphyotrichum now) dumosus, although it may be a hybrid. I'm familiar with one called 'Wood's Light Blue' and also a 'Wood's Pink' and a 'Wood's Purple'. These all want sun, and will get floppy if they don't get enough light. Easy to grow, although to be honest I like the first two species better than the 'Wood's' series as I'm not crazy about the latter's habit.

HTH,

Marty