In the Catskills, we have a bounty of native aster species to delight pollinators and gardeners alike. They bloom late in the year, when few other flowers are producing nectar. They also serve as host plants, whose leaves feed caterpillars of many different species of butterflies and moths. This makes them “keystone” plants, supporting a wide variety of wildlife.

Wildlife that relies on asters includes butterflies like the pearl crescent, whose caterpillars feed on aster foliage; nesting birds that need large numbers of caterpillars to feed their chicks; and many species of native bees. Among them are bumblebee queens, which need to stock up on nectar to build reserves for the winter months.

When settlers from Europe arrived in America and saw asters blooming wild on Sept. 29, the holiday they celebrated as St. Michael’s Day, they called them “Michaelmas daisies.” Two species bearing that name became known as New York asters and New England asters. Early settlers hadn’t explored enough of the country to realize how widespread these plants were. New York asters are native up and down the Atlantic seaboard, from Maine to South Carolina, while New England asters are native across much of the U.S. and Canada.

New York asters and New England asters are similar, upright-growing plants with violet-blue flowers over an inch in diameter. In full sun, they have sturdy stems, usually at least 3 feet tall, sometimes as tall as 5 feet. The flowers of New England asters can tend toward a pinker shade. Their leaves clasp the plant’s stem at the base, sometimes hugging it almost all the way around.

Smooth blue asters and blue wood asters also have blue-violet flowers, usually a bit less than an inch across. Bushier, more sprawling plants than Michaelmas daisies, they bloom profusely. Blue wood aster, also called heart-leaved aster, blooms later than most other asters, often not until October, and stays in bloom after other species have faded. As its name suggests, its flowers are a bluer shade of violet than those of other asters, and it’s most comfortable in part shade.

The wavyleaf aster also grows well in shade. Its small, white to pale blue-violet flowers are less showy than those of other asters, but pollinators visit them enthusiastically. Like other asters, it’s a valuable host plant for a variety of butterfly caterpillars.

Three other aster species have small white flowers, sometimes with centers that are purple or magenta rather than yellow.

The calico aster’s flowers are the smallest, usually between a quarter and half an inch across, but it makes up for this by producing multitudes all along its stems. Even more than other asters, calico aster is a bee magnet. The flower centers start out yellow and turn shades of pink and purple as they age. Nurseries sometimes carry the ‘Lady in Black’ cultivar, which has somewhat bigger flowers. Often, more bees will be flocking to that plant than to any other in the nursery.

Two other native species, panicled aster and hairy oldfield aster, have small white flowers and more assertive growth habits than their cousins. Although they may not be suitable for garden beds where neatness is wanted, they can be at home in wilder parts of the garden. Sometimes, when invasive weeds are cleared away, these asters spring up out of the seed bank.

Panicled aster is named for its growth habit, consisting of “panicles,” flowering stalks that branch off the main stem. Hairy oldfield aster has a similar structure, but its leaves are short and narrow, almost resembling needles, while panicled aster has longer, wider leaves. Hairy oldfield aster, as its name suggests, is a denizen of old farm fields.

These asters are all classified as members of the Symphyotrichum genus. Once lumped into the Aster genus with Asian and European asters, they were reclassified in 1994 by American botanist Guy L. Nesom to reflect their evolutionary relationships.

Gardeners looking for these native asters in nurseries can look for the genus name Symphyotrichum on the tag. New England aster, for example, is Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, with a species name that means “New England” in Latin.

Margaret Tomlinson is a contributing writer. You can send her an email at reporting@theoverlooknews.com.