By Natalie Brewer, University of Md Extension Master Gardener
The goddess Virgo cried. And where her tears fell to the earth,
asters sprang up from the ground. My favorite season is autumn.
The weather is cooler, the sun shines abundantly, and I love the
autumn colors of red, yellow and orange… and blue, purple and
pink. Yes, that’s right, blue, purple and pink, and you can add
to that magenta, rose, red-purple, royal blue, lavender and sky
blue. These are all the true colors of autumn here in the United
States due to one of our most glorious and prolific wildflowers,
the aster. Asters are heralds of the autumn garden. There are
nearly one hundred and fifty different species of native asters
in the United States, many of which (over 50) are native east of
the Mississippi River. There are so many different asters with
many different qualities that there is definitely an aster for
the likes of every gardener and every gardening situation.
Asters are beautiful, easy to grow, and blanket themselves in a
flush of