Aster

Where it grows

True Aster (now mostly reclassified into Symphyotrichum and Eurybia) covers prairies, woodland edges, and damp meadows across North America and Eurasia. New York and New England asters, both native to the eastern United States, became the parents of most garden Michaelmas daisies grown in Europe.

How to recognise it

Tall, branching plants thirty centimetres to a metre and a half high carry sprays of small composite flower heads two to four centimetres across. Each head has thin rays of violet, lavender, blue, pink, or white surrounding a yellow disc that ages to red. The narrow, willow-like leaves clasp the stems.

Garden & cultural uses

Asters extend the garden’s interest from August into the first frosts, when little else flowers. They are vital nectar sources for migrating monarch butterflies and for late bumblebee queens preparing to overwinter. Many cultivars are prone to mildew; modern selections such as Aster Monch and the wood-aster cultivars resist disease.

In symbolism

The name comes from the Greek for “star.” In the Victorian language of flowers an aster signified patience and elegance; Michaelmas daisies in particular bloomed around Michaelmas, the September feast that closed the British summer.