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Smooth Aster 'Bluebird'

Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve is a tolerant and valuable shrub for the pollinator garden or meadow.

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Updated:

September 18, 2025

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Symphyotrichum laeve Credit: Connie Schmotzer

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Description

Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve 'Bluebird' (formerly Aster laevis 'Bluebird') is a variety of the native S. laeve that was introduced by Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware, in 1994. This was a spontaneously occurring variety first noticed in a Connecticut garden. It is more upright than the straight species and does not need pruning or staking.

This pollinator-friendly plant thrives in zones 4-8. The perennial, clump-forming shrub is deciduous. Composite flowers are 1-inch wide and are violet-blue, held 3-4 feet high. Flowers appear in fall (usually September in Southern PA) after many other plants have finished blooming. Alternate leaves are 1-3 inches long and are entire (the margin is smooth). The shiny gray-green foliage is attractive. Fruit has one seed and red bristles.

Growing Conditions

Smooth Aster 'Bluebird' tolerates a wide range of conditions. It prefers full sun to part shade, and can grow well in soil that ranges from sandy loam to clay, with a large window of acceptable pH. It requires little maintenance. Once established, it can tolerate drought, but prefers regular water in well-drained soils. Stems can be cut back in early summer to promote a more compact, bushy form.

Ecological Value: Wildlife, Insects, Etc.

This plant is a valuable shrub for the pollinator garden or meadow. Butterflies and bees love S. laeve ‘Bluebird’. Like its parent plant (S. laeve), it is a host plant for the Pearl Crescent butterfly.

Small mammals and songbirds eat the seeds. The genus Symphyotrichum supports the following specialist bees, according to the North Carolina State University Extension:

Andrena (Callandrena s.l.) asteris
Andrena (Callandrena s.l.) asteroids
Andrena (Cnemidandrena) hirticincta
Andrena (Cnemidandrena) nubecula
Andrena (Callandrena s.l.) placate,
Andrena (Callandrena s.l.) simplex
Colletes simulans.

This plant is largely resistant to deer and rabbits.

Landscaping

Smooth Aster 'Bluebird' performs well in beds or in borders, and is very showy when massed. It is frequently found in meadows.

Ethnobotany

Meskwaki people used the entire plant (S laeve var. laeve) to provide smoke for the sweatbath. Individual species of the parent genus Symphyotrichum spp. had a large number of uses by native peoples. This includes using smoke from the roots to attract game, dried stems as a blood tonic, crushed blossoms for nosebleeds, and as a component of a snake bite remedy. For a fascinating variety of uses for this Genus, see reference 3 below.