Flower for the Day New England Aster 10-13-25

This is aster time in the Heartland and elsewhere. New England aster (Symphotrychium novae-anglia,formerly Aster novae-angliae) has been fairly deer hardy. It is one of my few plants that re-grow from the deer eaten-off tips that can still bloom, although it does make them shorter. It is also known as the Michaelmas daisy. It is a perennial native.

The genus name, Symphyotrichum, is a Botanical Latin construction derived from the Greek meaning to make or bring together and hair. The species' former genus, Aster, comes from the Ancient Greek word for star.  

The  flowers have multiple ray florets. These surround the flower centers which are composed of just as many tiny yellow disk florets. The plant grows naturally in clumps, with several erect stems emerging from a single point. The stems are stout, hairy, and mostly unbranched. The untoothed, lance-shaped leaves clasp the stem with earlobe-like appendages, and the lower stem leaves often wither by the time of flowering. 

And mine come in two colors.

    New England Asters

They're firing purple from the rock wall,
shouting hurrahs amid gloriosas,
towering on leggy stalks
near the rose trellis, before the frost.

The dames are taking over.
Fringy and sticky, drunk with nectar,
they lean and swagger,
staging a revolution.

Volunteers from last year's seeds
spring up near the house,
and new forces bivouac
down the long dirt drive,
ready to occupy the roadside
past the mailbox.

Shovel in hand, I am fully enlisted
in the cause of late bloomers.
I transplant rootstock,
shake out new progeny,
post ensigns amid the wan and cheerless,
marshal troops down desolate hollows,
seed my universe with stars.

Lynn Ascrizzi