Climbing Aster is a sprawling herbaceous perennial that produces long stems and can climb to heights greater than 10 feet. It prefers to sprawl over the top of fence posts or other plants or can be located and allowed to use a trellis for its support. The side branches grow horizontally, allowing them to use adjoining plants for support of the plant structure. It can be found growing in marshy shores, stream banks, edges of swamps, moist thickets or wet woodlands. Standing water may affect the plant's health, so a location where good drainage can be accomplished is desirable. It will tolerate seasonal flooding. Deadhead this plant in the fall, but refrain from any additional trimming at that time. Delaying until spring when the plant is showing signs of awakening is a better alternative. In the late summer and fall, it produces pink to purple blooms with yellow centers. The rapid growing-spreading habit may require frequent division. Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems: Common diseases of the climbing aster include wilt disease, powdery mildew, and botrytis.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Dry | Occasionally Wet
Available space
3 feet-6 feet
NC region
Coastal; Piedmont
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
6 - Vine (vertical)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Climbing; Erect; Irregular
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The veined leaves of the Climbing aster are simple, alternate and narrowly oval.
Fall color
Purple/Lavender
Flower color
Pink; Purple/Lavender
Flower value
Fragrant
Flower shape
Wheel
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
The Climbing aster has pink to purple flowers with yellow centers in late summer into fall (September - November).
Bloom time
Fall
Fruit detail
Displays from November to January
Stem color
Brown/Copper
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
SE. U.S.A
Distribution
FL, GA, NC, SC
Wildlife value
This plant is a larval host to Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) caterpillars which have several broods and appear from April through November in the north and throughout the year in the deep south and Mexico. Adult Pearl Crescent butterflies feed on a large variety of flower nectars. Its flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies. Songbirds and small mammals eat the seeds.