Aster Seedheads

Asters are dainty flowers that resemble daisies. Flowers that are just the right size for a dollhouse. They generally bloom in late summer into autumn.

I love the ones that are lavender, blooming as the trees are beginning to change color. Blooming all along the dirt road coming up my mountain. There’s also one that has a deeper purple color with petals that are just a bit longer than I usually see. Late Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum patens). These are a bit more difficult to find but worth the search.

But I’m telling you all this to tell you about the seeds. After the diminutive bloom comes the seed. Changing from Daisy-like to Dandelion-like.

Every little seed has an attachment much like a single barb of a bird’s feather. Nearly weightless and ready to take flight with the slightest breeze. Makes me think of that Dandelion’s Wishing Flower. Blow on it and make a wish.

Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.