Oh sure, a nice lobelia might catch my eye, but all that goldenrod, boneset and joe-pye-weed sometimes feels like overkill. Even asters, which range in color from white to pink to lavender to blue to purple, don’t get much more than a second glance. Am I a fair weather wildflower lover, or what?
For their part, asters aren’t entirely to blame. After all, it is a long haul from the first Skunk Cabbage flowers of February to the end of summer. Asters can be notoriously difficult to identify and by October I’m simply too weary to investigate further. Given the wide variety if species, and the variety of colors in single species, it’s not like I’m overlooking some rarity.
There is perhaps, no genus of wildflower in North America with more species than asters. Even their family, the Composites (Compositae), is also known as the Aster (Asteraceae) family.
At least 150 species of aster are native to North America. Half of those are found east of the Rocky Mts., and 55 of those grow in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada. The Pacific Northwest seems to have fewer species.
One species of aster is often similar to many others. Also, many species hybridize, really muddying the water. Identifying them can be more time consuming than actually locating them in the wild. Autumn is a time for long hot baths and afternoon naps, not puzzling over some difficult to identify aster.
As one might expect, asters grow in a variety of environments: fields, roadsides, sandy soil, limestone cliffs, salty beaches, thickets, forests and leaf mold. The earliest bloomers begin in August, and the latest are finished well into autumn.
Regarded by many as the most attractive, and probably the most familiar, is the New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae, which literally translates as “star of New England”). Though its name suggests otherwise, it grows across southern Canada to the Rockies, south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Common along moist roadsides, New England Asters bloom from late August into October, and its flowers might be violet, magenta-purple, or rosy-lilac. It is a perennial and appreciates a lot of sun. It spreads slowly by roots and seeds and can be transplanted to the garden.
Other species of asters I generally overlooked in Ohio included Arrow-leaved Aster (A. sagittifolius), Crooked-stemmed Aster (A. prenanthoides), Calico Aster (A. lateriflorus), Heath Aster (A. pilosus), and Heart-leaved Aster (A. cordifolius). All are perennials and are pollinated by bees and wasps, particularly yellow jackets. During the winter, the tiny seeds provide food for many birds.
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