Honeysong Purple Stokes' Aster - 72-Cell Plug Tray

Honeysong Purple opens true royal-purple flowers, about 4 inches across, with a hint of red near the center that darkens as each bloom ages. White stamens and purple-tinged stems add contrast, and the fringed petals give each flower a lacy edge.

The deep green foliage forms a neat mound about 14 inches tall. It blooms from midsummer into early fall when deadheaded and is excellent for cutting. A native wildflower, it looks great next to yellow, pink or white fall mums.

What it looks like

Large, flat, cornflower-like flowers about 4 inches across in true royal purple, with an outer ring of broad petals deeply fringed and notched at the tips, and a center of smaller, finely cut florets tinged red-purple and dotted with white stamens. Flowers sit singly at the ends of purple-tinged stems just above the leaves. Leaves are long, smooth, lance-shaped and deep green, 4 to 8 inches long, forming a neat basal mound. The plant is about 14 inches tall and 12 to 15 inches wide. At peak it looks like a tidy green mound topped with big, lacy purple discs.

Growing it with lavender

Stokes' aster shares lavender's liking for full sun and well-drained soil, and its large, fringed blooms in similar purple, blue and white tones carry the lavender color theme through late summer after the main harvest.

Care

Plant in full sun in well-drained soil; it adapts to poor or fertile ground and handles some dryness, but soggy winter soil can rot the crown. Hardy in zones 5-9; deadhead spent flowers to keep new buds coming into early fall, and mulch lightly after the ground freezes in colder areas.

At a glance

• Botanical name: Stokesia laevis
• Flower color: Royal purple with a reddish center and white stamens
• Foliage: Deep green
• Growth habit: Neat, mounding clump
• Mature size: 14 in tall × 12–15 in wide
• USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
• Light: full sun
• Bloom start: Mid-July
• Peak bloom: Early-August
• Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
• Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
• Pollinator value: Great

Sizes and shipping

One full 72-cell plug tray: 72 young starter plugs of this variety (cells about 1⅓ in. wide × 2½ in. deep), rooted and ready to pot up into quarts or gallons. Best for growers and nurseries. Potted plants and plug trays ship during our live-plant seasons, March 1–May 31 and October 1–November 30; June through September is local pickup only. Plugs, potted plants and trays do not ship to AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT or WA.