September 3

There are asters everywhere now, particularly in the roadside ditches and open forest floors, along old stone walls, and sitting beneath field fence rows where fox tail and Timothy grasses reach high.

The toothed, white-tipped asters have been out for nearly two weeks, but they seem to have exploded in numbers just this weekend. They are so numerous in spots that when seen from a distance it is easy to imagine that some unusual dusting of snow has settled on top of the deep greens in which they reside.

They are a decidedly more ragged looking blossom, having the appearance that every other white petal has been removed, as if each were just used in a first round of “loves me, loves me not,” with petals picked out in alternate. What they lack in completeness is made up in abundance, and like most asters they seem hardy in heat, rain, cool and wind.

The signature New England Asters are just beginning to show, with purple petals pushing through their sepal covers. I saw one in full bloom today along the Grove roadside; this early arriver displaying its purple coloring and yellow center. We’ll see more and more as the days progress, and the depth of purple and contrasting yellow will be incredible. These we will continue to enjoy well into fall, past the first frosts and often into the initial snows. New England asters are hardy harbingers of autumn’s coming and going.

Notes:

New England Asters beginning to bloom