26 Septmeber 16

Easily one of the showiest wildflowers, New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is a hallmark plant of late season pollinators. Here we typically see it along the roadsides, a color pop easily recognizable to even the unlikeliest of botanists. Sometimes seen in colonies or stands but more commonly as a long soldier or three.

Eastern monarchs head down to central Mexico late in the year, following patches of tallgrass prairie stretching from Canada to Texas. Asters light the way, with blooms that hit in August and just keep going. We’ve seen three to five feeding at a time on this patch alone, nevermind the massive patches of blue wood and white asters that pioneer our backyard meadows recovering from over two decades of mowing.

We collected seeds along RT 236 in Eliot, ME. These are second year plants from a late season sowing in ‘24.