There are many flowers that bloom in September but most just whisper of the passing of seasons. New England asters shout that September has arrived, so they get top billing here. New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are the easiest of all the asters to identify because their flowers are larger than any of the others. You can’t identify them by color because they can be a pale, almost white purple, sometimes pink, or a deep, dark purple which is my favorite. This example was a pleasing shade of violet, which my color finding software calls thistle.
Blue stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia) appears early on in summer but waits until September to bloom. Its stems grow vertically until the flowers begin to open and then fall over into a more horizontal position, as if to show off the yellow blooms that grow in tufts all along the stem. This plant isn’t considered rare but I know of only one or two places where it grows. It is also called wreath goldenrod.
The stems of blue stemmed goldenrod get their blue color from the same natural wax coating that is found on grapes, plums, blueberries and other plants. The coating is called a bloom and plants use it as a form of protection against moisture loss. It’s made up of tiny powdery, whitish crystals which reflect and scatter light in ways that can make the surface that they cover appear very blue. I had quite a time finding a stem that was blue this year because the wax crystals can be washed off by rain or melted by the sun, and we’ve had some very hot weather this summer. Most stems were green this time.
If you wait for the flowers of devil’s beggarticks (Bidens frondosa) to open more than what is seen in this photo you’ll be waiting a very long time, because this is about the extent of it for them. The yellow orange flowers have disc flowers but no rays like asters and daisies, so they always seem to be unopened. The name beggarticks comes from its barbed seeds that stick to fur and clothing. I find these plants growing in the wet soil at the edges of ponds and rivers. In the past I’ve mistaken them for purple stemmed beggarticks (Bidens connata.)
The foliage of devil’s beggarticks might take the beautiful people who lived through the 60s and 70s on a flashback through time. Its leaves are compound in groups of 3 or 5, unlike those of purple stemmed beggarticks, which grow singly. As far as I know they have no psychoactive properties.
Nodding bur marigold (Bidens tripartita) likes full sun and wet feet and can often be found growing right beside its cousin devil’s beggarticks that we saw in the previous photo. Its flower is much showier though. As they age the flowers nod towards the ground and that’s how the plant comes by its common name. Another common name is nodding beggarticks, because its seeds are also barbed and also stick to just about anything that happens by. In this part of New Hampshire this plant grows about knee high, sometimes in standing water.
Nodding bur marigold looks something like a miniature sunflower and is supposed to be good for honey production.
I put this photo of a sunflower in to compare the nodding bur marigold flower in the previous photo to. Now that I see them together I see there is little comparison between the two, except for color and shape.
I was surprised to see little dwarf St. John’s wort (Hypericum mutilum) plants still blooming at the edge of a pond recently but there were several and some even had buds. I never knew that they bloomed for such a long time. Its flowers lack the brown spots often found on the petals of the larger version but otherwise there is no doubt that it is in the St. John’s wort family. This has been a good summer for St. John’s wort; I’ve seen the introduced European St. John’s wort, dwarf St. John’s wort, Canada St. John’s wort, and the unusual pink flowers of marsh St. John’s wort. Native Americans used several of our native species of Hypericum medicinally.
Pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum) isn’t common in this area but I recently found another pond that it grows in. The plants grow just offshore in the mud and send up a slender stalk that is topped by a quarter inch diameter flower head made up of very tiny white, cottony flowers. Eriocaulon, the first part of pipewort’s scientific name, comes from the Greek erion, meaning wool, and kaulos, meaning plant stem. The second part of the scientific name, aquaticuum, is Latin for a plant that grows in water, so what you have is a wool-topped stem growing in water, which is exactly what pipewort looks like.
Fragrant white waterlilies (Nymphaea odorata) are still blooming but not in the hundreds that I saw earlier this summer. Now I see an occasional blossom here or there. Someday I’m going to get close enough to smell one of these flowers. I’ve heard that they smell like cantaloupe. Native Americans made flour from the roots by drying and pounding them. I wonder if it tasted like cantaloupe.
Sand jointweed (Polygonum articulatum) is a curious little plant that gets its common name from the way it that grows in pure sand, and from its many jointed stems. I know of only one place where it grows and last year I was worried when I saw just a few scattered plants, but this year it has made a strong comeback and there were many new plants there. It is an annual so last year’s plants must have produced plenty of seed. They grow to about knee high and this year they were loaded with tiny white blooms, so hopefully strong seed production will continue.
The flowers of sand jointweed are among the smallest that I’ve tried to get a photo of and can be very difficult to get a decent shot of. I had to go back three times and re-shoot these before I got it right but it was worth it. You can see the tiny purple tipped anthers in one of the flowers and the unusual look of the stem, and those are what I wanted to show you. It looks like the flowers are just a bit bigger than Abe Lincoln’s ear on that penny.
White wood aster (Aster divaricatus) carpeted the shaded roadside one day. This aster is known for its drought tolerance and I’m sure that it must be putting it to good use this summer, since I can’t even remember when it rained last. The stalked, coarsely toothed, heart shaped leaves help with identifying this aster.
The small, one inch flowers of white wood asters can have red or yellow centers. I see both in this photo, but I don’t know if they’re on the same plant or different plants. This aster is very easy to grow and makes an excellent choice for a dry shaded woodland garden. It is best used in mass plantings as the natural grouping in the previous photo shows. Many nurseries sell the native plants, which reach about a foot tall here.
I remember when I made my living as a gardener digging out red clover plants whenever I saw them. The big, sprawling plants looked unsightly no matter where they grew and had to go. Then I started to look closely at the tiny orchid like flowers and I’ve never bothered one since.
Flowers have a mysterious and subtle influence upon the feelings, not unlike some strains of music. They relax the tenseness of the mind. They dissolve its vigor. ~Henry Ward Beecher.
Thanks for coming by.
We have Michaelmas daisies growing all along the river right now, a sure sign that summer is coming to an end. They’re pretty but they make me sad too.
I know just how you feel. Summers used to seem like they’d last forever.
So many lovely pictures, Allen! The Wood Asters with their different coloured centres, the Red Clover, the Nodding Bur Marigold and the Waterlily and it’s reflection.
I like the quote you have chosen very much. By the way, I have at last got round to reading the book you recommended to me; The Untethered Soul. It is absolutely wonderful! Thank-you.
You’re welcome Clare. I’m glad you liked the book. It’s very different and I wasn’t sure if you would. I know it’s hard to find time to read sometimes, but I want to read it again.
I’m glad you liked the flowers. It’s a very abundant time of year right now.
I haven’t been out looking for plants for a few weeks now (lack of opportunity) so your post was the ‘fix’ I needed! The book is also just what I need at present. I have been reading some paragraphs out loud to my younger daughter because Singer describes exactly the anxious problems that she faces. I love the way he explains it all so simply.
I hope you’ll be able to get outside soon!
I wondered if your younger daughter might like that book and I hope it help her. It does seem simple-I thought so too as I read it-but then when you start thinking about what he is actually saying, it becomes a bit more complicated. At least it did for me, and that’s why I want to re-read it. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad that you did too.
Yes it does get more complicated but if one follows his advice exactly, each stage flows into the next and with luck all will seem attainable and straight-forward (I hope!). I think we have to really want to ‘let go’ for it to work ( like going on a diet or giving up smoking perhaps). In recent years I have realised that true contentment can only be achieved by doing what Singer advocates – letting go, not getting upset by little things and so on – which is why I have found the book so good as it confirms what I had hoped. He also links all the major faiths together and shows that they all have the same basic creed – love one another and care for the world we live in.
I think part of the problem with my interpretation of what he is saying comes from my having another path to the same end, with a slightly different way to get there. Being out in the woods is very calming for me and brings me the inner peace spoken of in the book. I find it very easy to lose myself when I’m among my forest friends and when that happens you begin to focus on the bigger picture and free yourself from the trivial, petty things that you used to waste time needlessly worrying about. It’s my way of letting go and finding almost complete freedom from all of that “mind chatter.”
Yes, I can see that that would make a difference. I suppose there are plenty of people in the world who aren’t living in as great a place as you and have no woods and parks near their houses to go and unwind. His method is for them.
Yes, that’s a good way of looking at it. I don’t think it matters how you get there, as long as you do.
🙂
New England Aster blooms late in my garden, especially since I cut it back in June. Asters that are blooming include some of the S. shortii, S. prenanthoides, and S. macrophyllum. The Solidago odora is blooming but not the S. caesia or flexicaulis. Very interesting aquatic plants!
New England asters bloom later than a few of the others but right now there are many varieties all blooming at the same time, plus goldenrods too of course.
The photo of the red clover is stunning! In addition, I learned what the tiny white flowers that I see along the shores of some lakes are pipewort, and that the tiny white flowers close to the water’s edge are sand jointweed.
Thanks Jerry! I’ve learned so much from your blog over the years. It’s only fair that I should repay the favor. I’m glad you’re finding both of these plants. I don’t see either one enough and I was afraid they might be petering out.
My mother called pipewort “hatpins” — they look just like the long pins that secured ladies’ hats in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. There’s plenty of mud for them at Governor’s Lake in Raymond NH and we used to see lots. I found Sand jointweed growing behind a pizza place not far from my house in Derry. The soil is poor stuff left when the strip mall was built years earlier. In Newcomb’s I wrote in the margin, “October 4, 1992”. I was enchanted to identify these tiny flowers; blooming so late in the year, too!
Thank you Charlotte. Hatpins is a great description of pipewort. I never thought of it but it would be a great word to describe them to someone who had never seen them.
I’m glad you found sand jointweed. It’s nice to know that there’s plenty of it around, even if I’m not seeing it. It’s one of my favorite fall flowers, no matter how it challenges my skills.
That final picture is a real winner, beautiful. I also liked the dwarf St John’s wort a lot.
Thanks very much Susan, I’m glad you liked them. The clover is an easy shot but that dwarf St. John’s wort can be tricky because it’s so small.
I believe they have changed the genus on white wood aster to Eurybia and the disc florets go from yellow to red as they age. They are one of my favorites – they light up shady woods this time of year.
Your macro of the clover is stunning!
Thank you Eliza. I can’t keep up with all the changes that DNA is causing among plants. I suppose the dust will settle someday, once they have it all figured out.
I agree-those asters do a lot to improve the look of the woods right now. I’m also waiting for big leaf asters to bloom.
I’m glad you liked the shot of the clover!
Clover certainly repays close inspection but the pipe wort was today’s special treat for me.
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it. That was a relatively easy shot to get since it grew close to shore.
Glad you leave the red clover now, it’s great for long-tongued bumble bee species.
Thank you Emily. Yes, in my yard red clover can grow to its full potential! It’s always covered with bees, too.
NATURALLY
Behold
Fresh
Beauty
Unending
Thank you Ben!
Hundreds of white waterlillies where I am. You just inspired me to jump in my kayak and go smell one! If I don’t fall in trying I will let you know. Oh, they are a haven for little black water bugs too!!
You’re lucky to have all those blooming water lilies Martha. I hope you were able to smell one without going for a dip!
I’ve noticed that it’s just about impossible to get a shot of one without those black bugs on it.
Yep! Very faint smell of melon, could be cantaloupe!
Interesting!
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays and commented:
Thank you, Allen.
You’re welcome, and thank you for the re-blog.
Your photo album is so lovely…Something truly special about the last blooms of summer, my asters are now in full bloom and showing their beautiful lavender purple beauty.
Thank you Charlie. I agree, the last blooms of summer are especially sweet, and what would we do without asters? They’re blooming everywhere you look here right now.
Lovely sights once again… thank you for the tour. It’s hard to keep up with the abundance and the ever-changing aspects, buds to blooms to berries. And if you want to switch your prospects, just change elevation. Have a great day!
You’re welcome Rich. I agree, a change in elevation is nice every now and then. I just climbed Pitcher mountain for that very reason!
I hope you had a great day too.
Lots of good stuff here, as always. The pipewort photo is spectacular.
One question, if you don’t mind….you visit some of the same single plants year after year and report on their progress. Same with some of your favorite lichens. Do you have some kind of electronic map on which you ark their locations, or do you do it the old-fashioned waywith a map and pencil? Please don’t tell me that you just remember all these details – that would kill me!
Thanks. So happy to see your posts in my inbox every few days.
You’re welcome and thank you Judy.
If I find a plant in a spot I’ve never seen one in I write its name and location down so I can remember it the following year but after I’ve visited a plant a couple of times I really do remember where they are. Common plants like asters and goldenrods are everywhere, but things like pipewort aren’t so I take special care remembering where they grow.
I recently found some pipewort near the boat launch at McDowel Lake. It was neat to see large clusters of them. I agree, the red clover really is a lovely flower, but its greens leave something to be desired.
Thanks Laura. I’m glad you found another spot where pipewort grows. It seems to need very calm water.
Yes, red clover really wants to sprawl!