Boltonia
Thousand-Flowered Aster
This floriferous eastern American native was named after the British botanist, James Bolton, and for its butterfly-beguiling Aster-like blooms. Tolerant of clay soil and occasional dry conditions, Boltonia asteroides promotes an easy-to-grow pest-free habit with showy blooms that can grace native plantings or perennial borders.
Tootling the moist prairies, meadows and stream banks of eastern and central North America, this amenable Aster-like perennial rallies countless petite pale pink daisies with yellow eyes. Late summer finds upright branching stems and alternate linear grayish green leaves completely blanketed by the upbeat fine-rayed flowers that populate loose panicles. A winsome butterfly minion, ‘Pink Beauty’s slow-spreading rhizomes tolerate clay, but prefer good drainage, while a late spring lop plus somewhat drier soil will ensure stronger upstanding stems.
Blooms August–October
Size: 3' 0" – 5' 0" high x 3' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
Boltonia asteroides ‘Snowbank’ (P-0038)
Each $10.50
This natural beauty sports a just-blown-in appearance, forming a big billowy mass of small white daisy-shaped flowers and tasteful, linear gray-green foliage. Innumerable yellow-eyed “asteroides” shoot straight up on tall sturdy stems that seldom need staking and assert a strong vertical element. Cold-hardy ‘Snowbank’ can be associated with Helenium ‘Potter’s Wheel’, Kniphofia ‘Tawny King’ and Helianthus ‘Dakota Queen’ for a big boisterous late season gathering.
Blooms August–October
Size: 4' 0" – 5' 0" high x 3' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
