New Front Yard: Monch aster is a water-wise knockout
This is one part in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Arboretum “New Front Yard” series, 41 drought-tolerant and beautiful plants well adapted to our region.
Monch aster
Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’
Size: Under 2 feet tall
Bloom season: Summer, early fall
Pruning needs: Little or none; cut stems back to ground in winter
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Water needs: Once established, water deeply once a week
Snapshot: OK, this isn’t a California native, but this popular aster has made itself right at home in the Central Valley. This easy-care hybrid aster, developed in the early 1920s by Karl Frikart in Switzerland, is a dependable garden star in Sacramento. Throughout the summer, this compact perennial is covered with 2-inch, lavender-blue daisylike flowers. It makes beautiful bouquets. Butterflies love it, too. It grows in almost any kind of soil —as long as it has good drainage. You can see specimens near the gazebo in the arboretum’s teaching nursery on the UC Davis campus.
More online
See photo galleries of arboretum favorites at sacbee.com/home_garden.
This story was originally published June 21, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New Front Yard: Monch aster is a water-wise knockout."