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A dense stand of purple New England asters with orange centers growing among tall stems in late summer

Mums vs. Native Asters: Where Mums Came From, and Six Asters to Plant Instead

by Stephen
Photo by Tom and T Herman via iNaturalist, CC BY (cropped and blurred)

Short answer

Garden mums are chrysanthemums, first cultivated in China as far back as the 15th century BC. Many fall mums do not come back: Iowa State University Extension says most florist mums will not survive the winter when planted outdoors in Iowa. Native asters bloom in the same weeks, return every year, and feed bees late in the season.

The short version

  • Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China as far back as the 15th century BC (Longwood Gardens), were brought to Japan around the Heian period, and were first adopted as the Japanese imperial family crest in the early Kamakura period (Nippon.com).
  • Chrysanthemum is a short-day plant that flowers in response to the length of day versus the length of night (University of Missouri Integrated Pest Management).
  • Most florist mums will not survive the winter when planted outdoors in Iowa, and garden mums planted in late summer or early fall often do not survive the winter (Iowa State University Extension).
  • Chrysanthemum is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses per the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center plant database.
  • Late-flowering asters and goldenrod provide bee forage into September and October, and Bumble Bee Watch holds nearly 450 observations of bumble bees on asters (Xerces Society).
  • Six native asters by ecoregion: New England aster (Minneapolis and St. Paul), Georgia aster (Atlanta), aromatic aster (Dallas), smooth blue aster (Denver), Douglas aster (Seattle), and Pacific aster (San Francisco Bay Area), all perennials per the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Quick answer

Garden mums are chrysanthemums, a flower first cultivated in China as far back as the 15th century BC. People buy them every fall because they are covered in color right when the rest of the yard is fading. The catch is winter: Iowa State University Extension says most florist mums will not survive the winter when planted outdoors in Iowa. A native aster blooms in the same weeks, comes back every year, and feeds bees at the end of the season. Six to plant, one for each region, are below.

This is the longer version of a short video I made about skipping mums this fall: where mums came from, why they are so easy to love, and six native asters to plant in their place, each matched to the part of the country where it actually belongs.

Where mums came from

Longwood Gardens notes that chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China as far back as the 15th century BC, and that grafting and training them into artful forms is still honored every year during festivals in both China and Japan.

According to Nippon.com's history of the flower, chrysanthemums were grown for medicinal and culinary purposes in China since ancient times and were brought to Japan around the Heian period (794 to 1185). The chrysanthemum was first adopted as the Japanese imperial family crest in the early Kamakura period (1185 to 1333) through the influence of Emperor Go-Toba. During the Meiji period, a chrysanthemum with 16 double petals was established as the official imperial crest, and the design was defined in detail in the 1926 Imperial Household Ceremony Regulations.

A Japanese woodblock print of red, pink, and white chrysanthemums with blue-green leaves and a small bee flying above them
Chrysanthemums and a honey bee, a woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai made between 1829 and 1833, held in the Centre Céramique collection in Maastricht. (Katsushika Hokusai, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Centuries of breeding are why the flowers look the way they do now. The National Chrysanthemum Society USA organizes its gallery of show mums into 13 numbered bloom classes, plus separate categories for bonsai, sprays, trees, and cascades.

Why people buy mums every fall

The timing is built into the plant. University of Missouri Integrated Pest Management describes chrysanthemum as a good example of a short-day plant, one that flowers in response to the length of day versus the length of night. That is why mums are at their best as summer turns to fall.

The appeal is easy to understand. A mum is a full dome of orange, yellow, red, or purple that fits in a pot on the front step, and it looks finished the day you bring it home. For anyone who wants the front of the house to look cared for in October, that is hard to argue with.

A tight mass of orange and gold chrysanthemum blooms filling the frame
Orange and gold garden mums in full bloom, the look most people are buying in September. (Photo by Yannick ST-Jacques Prescod via iNaturalist, CC BY)

The catch: most fall mums do not make it through winter

Iowa State University Extension's guide to growing chrysanthemums is direct about it: "Most florist mums will not survive the winter when planted outdoors in Iowa." Garden mums are more cold-hardy than florist mums, but the same page says garden mums "planted in late summer or early fall often do not survive the winter."

The reason is in the roots. Per Iowa State, chrysanthemums have shallow, fibrous roots, and repeated freezing and thawing of the soil in winter can heave plants out of the ground. That guidance is written for Iowa winters. If you do want a mum to come back, the same page says spring is the best time to plant garden mums, and recommends several inches of straw or pine needles over the plants in late November or early December.

My own view is simpler. If a plant is going to be a one-season decoration that you buy again next year, I would rather give that spot to something that comes back.

Mums and pets

Chrysanthemum is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses per the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center plant database. The ASPCA lists the toxic principles as sesquiterpene, lactones, pyrethrins and other potential irritants, and the clinical signs as vomiting, diarrhea, hypersalivation, incoordination, and dermatitis. If a pet eats part of a mum, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 or your veterinarian.

Why plant a native aster instead

Native asters bloom in the same late stretch of the year, and all six below are perennials, per the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Plant one this fall and it comes back on its own next year, and the year after that.

All six are in the genus Symphyotrichum. The Wildflower Center lists the older Aster names as synonyms (Georgia aster carries Aster georgianus, for example), so you may see either name on a plant tag.

The bigger reason is what asters do for pollinators at the end of the season. The Xerces Society says late-flowering species in the aster family such as goldenrod and asters provide forage into September and October. In the same article, Xerces reports nearly 450 Bumble Bee Watch observations of bumble bees on asters, with at least 26 different bumble bee species recorded on goldenrod and asters, including the rusty patched bumble bee.

A striped bee feeding at the yellow center of a pale lavender aster flower
A bee working an aromatic aster flower in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Jay Pruett via iNaturalist, CC BY)

Asters feed caterpillars too. The Wildflower Center lists New England aster as a larval host for the pearl crescent and checkerspot butterflies, and Butterflies and Moths of North America lists smooth-leaved true asters among the pearl crescent's caterpillar hosts.

An orange and black pearl crescent butterfly with open wings perched on small white daisy-like flowers
A pearl crescent butterfly in Baltimore, Maryland. Its caterpillars feed on the leaves of several asters. (Photo by Erin Collins via iNaturalist, CC BY)

Six native asters to plant instead, by region

An aster is only a good pick if it is native where you live, so each one below is matched to a single EPA Level III ecoregion and a city inside it. Ecoregion membership comes from the Pollinator Patch plant database. Native range, bloom months, and height come from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. If your city is not on the list, look up your own ZIP code, because the right aster depends on your ecoregion. Each section also links to the species' county-level map from the Biota of North America Program, if you want to see where it has been recorded.

New England aster

North Central Hardwood Forests, Minneapolis and St. Paul area

New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is the tall one, up to about six feet, with purple rays around an orange-yellow center. The Wildflower Center gives its native range as Quebec and Maine to South Carolina, west to the eastern Great Plains, and in the mountains of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. It blooms August through October in moist soil and carries special value to native bees, bumble bees, and honey bees. Give it the back of a bed, where the height looks planned.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum novae-angliae on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

A monarch butterfly feeding on a stem of purple New England aster flowers against a soft green background
A monarch on New England aster. The Wildflower Center lists this aster as a nectar source for monarch butterflies. (Photo by Glenn Berry via iNaturalist, CC0)

Georgia aster

Piedmont, Atlanta area

Georgia aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum) is the Southeast's late show. The Wildflower Center lists it as native to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with purple to violet flowers in October and November on plants 18 inches to about three feet tall. It starts blooming later than any other aster on this list, which puts its flowers on the calendar right where fall mums are.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum georgianum on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

Two violet Georgia aster flowers with pale centers rising above rounded gray-green leaves in dry grass
Georgia aster in bloom at Murphey Candler Park in Brookhaven, in the Atlanta area. (Photo by Angel Clemente via iNaturalist, CC0)

Aromatic aster

Texas Blackland Prairies, Dallas area

Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), which also goes by fall aster and shale aster, is the compact, tough choice. The Wildflower Center lists its range as Pennsylvania to North Carolina, west to northeastern Wyoming and Texas, and south to Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. It grows up to about three feet, often less, in sun or part shade and dry or moist soil, and blooms September through November with special value to native bees. In a Dallas yard that gets little summer water, that tolerance for dry soil is the point.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum oblongifolium on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

A single lavender aromatic aster flower with a red-orange center above a shrubby tangle of small narrow leaves
Aromatic aster in flower above its small, stiff leaves. (Photo by Thomas Koffel via iNaturalist, CC BY)

Smooth blue aster

High Plains, Denver area

Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) has the widest range of the six. The Wildflower Center describes it as native throughout much of North America, except Florida, California, and the far north. It wants sun and dry soil, grows up to about four feet, and blooms August through October with fragrant flowers and special value to native bees. On the dry side of the Front Range, the dry-soil preference makes it an easy fit.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum laeve on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

A leafy clump of smooth blue aster covered in pale violet flowers with yellow centers
A full clump of smooth blue aster in flower. (Photo by Eric Lamb via iNaturalist, CC BY)

Douglas aster

Puget Lowland, Seattle area

Douglas aster (Symphyotrichum subspicatum) is the one for the Pacific Northwest. The Wildflower Center lists it as native to Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, blooming July through September and growing up to about four feet, with special value to native bees. It starts a month earlier than New England aster, so in Seattle it carries color from midsummer into early fall.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum subspicatum on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

A loose patch of Douglas aster with small lavender flowers scattered through grass and green foliage
Douglas aster flowering in Grays Harbor County, Washington. (Photo by 66dodge via iNaturalist, CC BY)

Pacific aster

Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains, San Francisco Bay Area

Pacific aster (Symphyotrichum chilense), also called common California aster, is the pick for the Bay Area. The Wildflower Center lists it as native to California, Oregon, and Washington, and to British Columbia in Canada. It blooms July through September, grows up to about four feet and often shorter, and carries special value to native bees.

County-level map: Biota of North America Program (BONAP), view Symphyotrichum chilense on bonap.net (opens in new tab)

A dense cluster of pale lavender Pacific aster flowers with yellow centers among gray-green stems
Pacific aster along the Guadalupe River Trail in Santa Clara County. (Photo by Anne Parsons via iNaturalist, CC0)

Planting asters this fall

How late you can plant depends on your first frost date, which we walk through in when to plant native plants in fall before the first frost.

Once your asters finish blooming, leave the stems and the fallen leaves around them through winter. The Xerces Society suggests leaving newly fallen leaves, branches, logs, and loose dirt in the spaces you manage, because overwintering bumble bee queens need insulation and materials to build their overwintering sites. If a tidy look matters on your street, keep a clean edge along the bed so the standing stems look deliberate.

If you have pets and want to check the rest of the yard, we keep every plant on the ASPCA toxic list, with native alternatives in one place.

People also ask

Do mums come back every year?

Garden mums can, but many do not. Iowa State University Extension says most florist mums will not survive the winter when planted outdoors in Iowa, and garden mums planted in late summer or early fall often do not survive the winter. The same page says spring is the best time to plant garden mums.

Are mums toxic to dogs?

Yes. Chrysanthemum is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses per the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center plant database, with clinical signs including vomiting, diarrhea, hypersalivation, incoordination, and dermatitis. If your pet ate part of one, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 or your veterinarian.

Are asters perennials?

All six native asters in this article are listed as perennials by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: New England aster, Georgia aster, aromatic aster, smooth blue aster, Douglas aster, and Pacific aster. Plant one and it comes back year after year.

When do native asters bloom?

It depends on the species. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists Douglas aster and Pacific aster from July through September, New England aster from August through October, aromatic aster from September through November, and Georgia aster in October and November.

Find the aster that is native to your yard

Pollinator Patch matches native plants to your ZIP code and ecoregion, so you get the aster that belongs in your yard, plus the plants that pair with it, instead of a national list.

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