Asters to Call Our Own

They come out just when the summer people go home, as if on cue for the Islanders who stop working so much and are out and about for fall walks and swims in the still-warm ocean.

They are the New England asters, sturdy, long-blooming and marked by more varieties than can be listed in this space. At least five or six varieties are in bloom right now, including stiff and showy asters. Their colors range from deep purple to pale periwinkle, and they look gorgeous in arrangements with goldenrod and rustic native grasses.

And best of all they bloom until well past the first hard frost, coloring the fall landscape as it turns from bright green to deep orange and russet. They are a rich prelude to the long, bare months of winter.