The Feast of St. Michael



Aster (Michaelmas Daisy)

 Autumn is the time when Asters come into their own.  They are called Michaelmas Daisies because they bloom at the time of the Feast of St. Michael on 29th September, universities also use Michaelmas for the name of the autumn term.

They flower all autumn long with varying shades of lilac-coloured flowers, but can be prone to mildew.  The one in my garden is only about 1ft. tall, but others can grow to 3ft.  The flower heads are quite small but there are usually plenty of them, and they can be quite invasive.  The Aster novi-belgii are a double variety which are easy to raise from seed and usually are cerise coloured.

They prefer sun or partial shade in fertile, well drained soil - I shall be moving mine this year as it is not thriving in the front garden where the soil is hard-baked and also it is planted near to the edge of the lawn, and because it leans forward, often gets strimmed by mistake.