Little White Asters

The field of goldenrod has all gone to seed making the birds and little seed eating rodents very happy.


The only thing left in bloom are the flat-topped asters (Aster umbellatus) nestled inside the tall remains of goldenrod and other field flora.

They are widespread through our three acre field. Too many plants to count.

The delicate little flowers are less than an inch in diameter.


When we moved here from the city eighteen years ago I bought many plants from mail order nurseries for the densely shaded, wooded front yard where it was impossible to grow grass.

One catalog offered the white asters with a glowing blurb: Will bloom in the fall after everything else has stopped blooming, blooms even in dense shade, grows even in sandy, dry soil. How could I not buy these? So I did.

Imagine my chagrin when they bloomed the next autumn and I realized I had a field full of exactly the same thing.

The purchased ones remained in the front yard for fifteen years, performing as advertised. I liked to pretend they were just a little better than the white asters in the field. But they weren't.