Fall is Aster Time

Georgia aster - Symphyotrichum georgianum - with seeds of a blazing star

Skyblue aster - S. oolentangiense

Rice button aster - S. dumosus

Wavyleaf aster - S. undulatum
As fall hits full stride, the asters in my wildflower garden are in full bloom. Although a few of the really late ones - S. concolor, S. adnatum, and S. walteri, are just now forming buds, the others are providing color and a huge amount of pollinator value. I've been collecting aster species for a number of years for this purpose and it is gratifying to see their impact. Most are not widely propagated, for no good reason, but with my excursions afield and the goodwill of friends, I've got about half of our 28 native Symphyotrichum species in my landscape or in propagation to add next spring. Asters are the acme of pollinator plants. Each creates hundreds of heads composed of many dozens of individual blossoms. Pollinators of all types find them irresistible - partly because they can remain in one place and reach so many flowers at one time.
Most asters are extremely hardy as well. Here in my landscape, they've thrived under the same conditions, although they are not necessarily found in the same habitats in nature. They will die back to the ground in winter and reemerge in early spring. Their seeds (the ones I don't collect for propagation in my nursery) will feed seed- eating birds this winter and the dead stems will provide habitat for overwintering bees.
With the emergence recently of these asters, my wildflower garden is once again alive with bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. It's been a transformation that I would not have predicted a few weeks back when my garden fell silent. Nature is an amazing thing. It seems to have forgiven whatever destructive force caused the extirpation of pollinators that I've written about recently. Where these creatures came from in my nearly sterile surroundings, I do not know. Certainly not from the manicured turfgrass lawns that surround me or from the graveled yards adjacent to them. I am astounded by all of this and it reinforces my faith that if we do the right things in our yards, nature, and we as a species, will persist. We should never underestimate what we can accomplish. It just takes some planning, some patience to find and plant the right species, and faith in our actions.

Asters are more than just the species in Symphyotrichum and those closely related species that were once lumped with them before the genus Aster was split up. All of them are extremely important and I've added a great many of these also. Below are those still blooming in my garden and providing their servies to pollinators.
Goldenrods - Solidago spp. are especially valuable. Two are now done, but two more are in full bloom.
Downy ragged goldenrod - S. perfoliata

Wand goldenrod - S. stricta                                                                             

Dixie aster is now in its own genus - Sericocarpus
Dixie aster - S. tortifolius
Palafoxias are wonderful, though mine are nearly done for the year
Coastalplain palafox - P. integrifolia

Here's the others that have been in bloom now for months
Purple coneflower - Echinacea purpurea

Lakeside sunflower - Helianthus carnosus
Common tickseed - Coreopsis leavenworthii
 Plant asters. It's a simple solution to creating a meaningful living landscape.


Comments

  1. David Kyle RakesOctober 29, 2019 at 2:29 AM

    Well said Craig. I need to get more asters in my backyard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Craig HuegelOctober 30, 2019 at 3:49 AM

      For some reason, very few are reliably grown by the nurseries and some of those are aggressive spreaders in a landscape. I've got about 8 now in my new landscape and about half a dozen new species as seedlings in my nursery. Someday, I hope to be able to offer more into the trade.

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