Beauties of Goldenrods and Asters

     Today, September 21, 2015, during a drive through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland, I saw many patches, large and small, of Canada goldenrod that had infinite numbers of yellow flowers and a kind of wild aster with innumerable pale-lavender petals and light-yellow centers.  The blossoms of both these plants were attractive. 
     The perennial goldenrod and aster plants both grow up to five feet tall and are, currently, at their peak of blooming, as they are every year about this time.  The blooms of both species were pretty by themselves, but even more so when together in mixed clumps.  They exhibited a nice blend of colors, and brightened the open habitats they bloomed in.
     Both these kinds of tall plants grow best in open, sunny habitats, such as cow pastures and country roadsides, which are human-made environments.  Therefore, both types of plants are common in southeastern Pennsylvania with its many croplands.  They are two of several kinds of plants that have lovely blooms in open habitats here in autumn and sometimes rival the colors and beauties of fall foliage.
     When meadows are not mowed or grazed, many of them become overgrown with a variety of tall, flowering plants that actually make those pastures more interesting and attractive.  Goldenrod and asters are two of those flowering species.  
     Some stands of predominately goldenrod and asters have clumps of bushy-looking spotted jewelweeds with their orange flowers, and tall, decorative stands of cattails and phragmites mixed in with them.   All that high plant growth provides shelter for a variety of birds and mammals, including raccoons, opossums, muskrats and white-tailed deer.  Cattails, phragmites and jewelweeds indicate
moist soil.      
     Each Canada goldenrod plant has several "fingers" pointing in every direction, each one lined with many tiny, golden blooms.  Digger wasps and other kinds of insects sip nectar from goldenrod blossoms on sunny, warm afternoons in fall. 
     Each aster plant has several small flowers on top.  Honey bees, bumble bees, pearl crescent butterflies and other types of insects sip nectar from them.
     Goldenrods and asters continue to bloom well into October, depending on the weather.  During heavy frosts, however, the flowers die, but continue to perch on their tall plants.  Their tiny seeds become food for field mice and a variety of seed-eating sparrows and finches during winter, creatures that add to the beauties and intrigues of these dead plants through that harshest of seasons.  And some people use the dead seed heads of goldenrod and asters for attractive indoor decor in winter.
     Get out and see the pretty flowers of goldenrods and asters.  They are attractive, in themselves, and in the birds they attract to consume their seeds.