While the world seems to be turning its attention to third quarter reports, and school busses trundle by each morning, I find myself slowing down along a quiet country road one evening. Here, late summer/early fall shows up a little differently. Joe Pye weed lifts its dusty pink blooms above the grasses, ironweed burns a deep royal purple, goldenrod catches the sun like scattered lanterns, and the first asters begin to punctuate shades of blue into the endings of summer. It's a reminder I need every year: while we're busy planning what comes next, nature is quietly putting on one of its finest shows, asking nothing more of us than to notice.
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Asters are native Michigan wildflowers that bloom in shades of purple from August through October. They provide essential late-season nectar for migrating Monarchs and bees and support over 100 species of caterpillars, which are the primary food source for native nesting birds. Common species include the New England Aster, which sometimes reaches 6 feet tall and prefers moist soil and full sun, the Smooth Blue Aster, which grows about 3 feet tall in dry soil and full sun, the Big Leaf Aster, which grows only about a foot tall and is highly shade-tolerant, and the Aromatic Aster, a vigorous, sun-loving plant that thrives in poor soil .​
Goldenrod is a perennial that blooms with bright yellow flowers from late summer to fall. More than 22 different species of goldenrod are native to Michigan, and it is a prolific nectar and pollen producer, supporting bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, and beetles. A common misconception about goldenrod is that it causes hay fever. The truth is that goldenrod pollen is heavy and sticky, making it too heavy to float through the air. The real culprit is ragweed, which blooms at the same time as goldenrod and emits copious amounts of wind-borne pollen.
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Joe Pye Weed is an erect, clump-forming, perennial known for beautiful and fragrant flowers that bloom from summer to early fall in wet areas. The tiny, tubular-shaped, pinkish-to-purple blooms have a delicate vanilla scent and are arranged in domes measuring about 12 inches across. The flowers attract butterflies and bees and hummingbirds. The plant itself measures about 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It prefers full sun to partial shade and moist to occasionally wet soils.
Ironweed is named for its tough stems that often reach 10 feet tall. The plant flowers from late summer to fall with intense purple blooms that attract butterflies and other pollinators. These blooms generally occur in clusters of 10 to 20 at the end of branches that loosely overlap, producing flowering masses 4 to 7 inches across. Each cluster generally contains 15 to 25 individual disk flowers shaped like flared tubes. Ironweed is an excellent nectar plant and is visited by many species of butterflies and bees. It prefers moist soils and tolerates brief flooding.