A PRODIGALITY

 

"The vegetable life does not content itself
with casting from the flower
or the tree, a single seed,
but it fills the air and earth with a 
 prodigality of seeds,
that if thousands perish,
 thousands may plant themselves,
that hundreds may come up,
that tens may live to maturity,
that, or least, one
  may replace the parent."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Extracted from "The Triumph of Seeds"
by Thor Hanson
Signed copy from the library of 
Gatehouse Seeds,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Wild Douglas Aster seed harvest of 2024.
More about this easy-street, wild perennial,
wildflower, loved by many pollinators - 
can be seen here.

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Wild Douglas Aster
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)
Shaw Island grown.
Seed packets available at 
Gatehouse Seeds,
Reef Net Bay, Shaw Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

BRINGING UP THE COW'S TAIL

 

Wild Douglas Aster
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)

Photographed 12 September 2023.
Gatehouse garden 
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Click image to enlarge.

The last native wildflower seeds to be harvested for the Gatehouse this year–the highly noted Douglas Aster. Regarded by gardeners who like to feed a large cross-section of visiting pollinators while knowing this perennial is low maintenance, deer-resistant, and adaptable to conditions of full sun or part shade. 

The plant featured in the above photograph was grown by direct seeding, broadcast from Shaw Island wild-collected seed. Easy street. Cast out in autumn or spring in this hardiness zone of 8b.

Fresh seeds for fall planting
are now installed at 
Gatehouse Seeds,
Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

More particulars about the cultivation of this plant can be seen with earlier posts on this site 

🌿 WILD DOUGLAS ASTER 🌿

Douglas Aster
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)

Anno 25 August 2019
A native flower growing on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Author photograph.

Native Douglas Aster

One of the best native flowers to grow for a food source for a large number of pollinators. Can be cast out in the fall.

Life Cycle: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 5-9

Habit: c. 3'-4' x 2', other places. (Only about 2' in height on Shaw Island, partly hidden in thick grass.) Laden with lilac-purple daisy-like flowers from July to October.

Soil: Prefers moist but also quite drought tolerant.

Germination: Seeds germinate easily and can be direct sown in fall or spring or started in flats in the spring and then transplanted.

TOLERATES: Shaw Island Deer!
For light conditions, this Aster will take full sun or partial shade areas subjected to salt or saline soils, areas that receive occasional floods and gardens that are blasted with cold winters.

Native: from the Aleutian Islands to northern California.

Notes: This is a late-season bloomer providing essential nectar to insects at a time when many other flowering plants are shutting down for winter. 
      Food source for a large number of butterfly and moth species, including the northern crescent, the field crescent, the painted lady, and the Isabella tiger moth (a.k.a. 'Wooly Bears'). The nectar-rich flowers attract hefty numbers of late-season bees, including bumblebees, leafcutter bees, and skippers. Also good for a rain garden.*

*Rain Garden: is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rainwater from a roof, driveway, or street, and also a place to let it sink into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost-effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property. Rain gardens can also provide food and shelter for butterflies and songbirds. 

Douglas Aster seeds
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)
Before being cleaned for packets.
Native to Shaw Island,
Center of the San Juan Archipelago, Washington.
Photographed 12 September 2019.
Photograph by author.

For instructions on building a rain garden CLICK HERE.

People interested in food for pollinators
visiting their orchard and garden,
there are a few packets of native Douglas Aster
seeds now included at Gatehouse Seeds,
Reef Net Bay, Shaw Island, WA.