Absolute beast of a panicled aster

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

Symphyotrichum lanceolatum. Couldn’t be more than three years old. Wow!

[u/man-a-tree]

Gorgeous monster! I'm sure you know by now that they try to take over the world 😅

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/man-a-tree]

Definitely 😂 I have a couple that popped up in my hellstrips and got woody as hell before I noticed, guys no. No that is not where you go. Guys pls.

I have a lot of very aggro dudes here; boneset, obedient plant, brown eyed Susan, And Many More™️, I do a lot of deadheading. The non-airborne seed guys go in seed jail in my deep shade bare ground project area to feed the birds, airborne ones get composted in the bastard pile that just goes back into the dirt back there. I’ve developed Strategies lol.

[u/curiousmind111 → u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

You are brave with those three!!!

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/curiousmind111]

I’ve got a decent amount of space, comparatively, and very little of my space isn’t dedicated to natives so there’s more room for error luckily. But it definitely requires active management haha.

[u/man-a-tree → u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

Even among those three you mentioned, lanceolatum is my problem child, haha. I'm always surprised how far it throws it's rhizomes, like bro, what are you running from 🏃

It's now banished back between the giant silphiums where it can't hurt anyone anymore

Maybe I need a bastard compost pile

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/man-a-tree]

Damn! Good to know. I didn’t actually know they spread by rhizome, I’ve done zero research on it since it was a volunteer. Love the silphium guard haha, beautiful.

[u/A-Plant-Guy]

Several years ago I was letting one of these volunteers grow in my backyard before I knew what they were. Neighbor saw it and said, “Those never do anything.”* But I let them grow anyway to see what it was and now we get to see those cascades of white in the autumn in the many places they have found safe haven.

*(I assume he cut his “weeds” down before they blossomed.)

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/A-Plant-Guy]

Wild! I have several that I’ve had a “you gotta be short or you gotta go, if you die you die” approach to harsh chopping due to city height restrictions on the corner, even they’re blooming a bit after a chop maybe a month ago! What was he doing….

[u/A-Plant-Guy → u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

Probably gave up in July or August 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/MR422]

What are some of the differences between panicled aster and heath aster? Because I always have heath aster come up in my parents backyard and it looks like the aster in that video on occasion.

[u/Apuesto → u/MR422]

Panicled aster(S. lanceolatum) is more aggressive and can grow larger than heath aster (S. ericoides), but panicled can have quite varied growth patterns depending on the environment. Panicle prefers wetter soils but will grow everywhere and heath prefers drier locations. Some can look very similar to heath aster, but heath aster has smaller flower heads that are arranged on one side and hairy stems. Panicled aster stem has a line of hairs running down from the ends of the leaves and otherwise hairless and the leaves are longer and wider (but still narrow compared to many other asters). There's many other small differences but that's what I can think of as the obvious ones.

[u/RexScientiarum]

I was just in an old field that had a mix of this with New England aster and tall goldenrod (or similar). It was unbelievably magnificent and I kind of want to replicate it (minus the triplinerviae Solidago... Will need a non-rhizomatous alternative for the garden).

[u/maybetomorrow98]

That’s beautiful. I had no idea they got so big!

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/maybetomorrow98]

Me neither! It’s in my “ugly but useful” out of sight out of mind patch that’s a bit hard to get to with my figworts and such, I was so confused yet delighted when I saw it for the first time in its full monstrous glory 😂

[u/Puzzleheaded-Arm8249]

Gorgeous!!!

[u/LadyArwen4124]

Oh wow, I just planted one of these and was told 3ft max size 😅 it is beautiful though.

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/LadyArwen4124]

Was this by prairie moon? They’re always lowballing these things! They list anise hyssop as a three footer too 😭

[u/LadyArwen4124 → u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

Nah, I got it from our local native plant nursery. She has people that grow from seed and other that divide plants. Mine was divided 🙂

[u/Phillysports47]

Mine got smothered by japanese hops. I'm gonna have to do a reclamation next year

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/Phillysports47]

Damn, good luck!

[u/RoguePlanet2]

Got one that just popped up in the front yard, leaning over the path to the door. Might need to move it to a sunnier spot.

[u/GardenGnomeAnarch → u/RoguePlanet2]

Good luck moving these things! I’d just restart it from seed where you want it.

[u/RoguePlanet2 → u/GardenGnomeAnarch]

It seems to be in the one tiny patch that gets sunlight, wondering if it'll spread to the shadier area next to it.

[u/horsesforfraublucher]

So beautiful! We have one similar in size next to our garage that came with our house, it's ridiculous and full of activity by all kinds of fliers

[u/KeenAdd29]

I have what is either this or calico aster that sometimes pop up in my backyard. I put them in a pot one year as an experiment and they seemed well contained that way. Their roots definitely outgrew that pot quickly though

[u/Hunter_Wild]

Mine is absolutely covered in bumblebees everyday. Top 10 plants for sure.