Mums

I’ve been tempted, but I’ve resisted. Rows and rows of identically shaped mounds of chrysanthemums now march across the front of my grocery and farm supply stores. They’re lovely, they’re on sale and they will last only a week or two. Then I’ll be left with an unsightly dead plant and a plastic pot my recycling center won’t accept. And although some mums are perennials, these supermarket specials rarely survive when planted.

Fortunately for me, our yard is ablaze with fall flowers. Asters and their fall companions, goldenrod, are putting on their purple and gold show. Both of these plants are members of the Asteraceae plant family and both are hardy native plants. Mums are also in the Asteraceae family, but they hail from China.

When we moved into our home 26 years ago, one giant clump of purple asters from my old garden moved with us. We wanted our new yard to be welcoming to bees, birds and butterflies. Asters are a big source of pollen and nectar for pollinators, and they are buzzing with bees in fall.

During our first decade here, the aster struggled to make itself at home. But then it took off and began to pop up all over our acre. And a puzzling thing occurred. I have several shades of colors from pale to deep purple. One patch is even a brilliant magenta. I have no idea how all this propagation happened, but I’m enjoying all these unexpected gifts which require absolutely no work or expense, year after year.

This fall, another surprise dotted our landscape. Masses of tiny white flowers like little stars joined the late fall flower show. Clueless about their identity, I took a photo, googled the plant identifier site and learned they are “frost asters”. Another gift from Mother Nature.

The name “aster” comes from the ancient Greek word “asteri” meaning star. In Greek mythology, the goddess Asterea looked up into the sky and saw no stars. Sad that her namesake was missing, she started to cry and, where her tears fell, asters grew out of the ground. I am sure that seeds, not tears, produced our fall spectacle. I will, however, thank my lucky stars for such beauty.

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