What's blooming in High Park, late September

Sunday was a perfect day for planting with the High Park Volunteer Stewardship Programme. Summer is coming to an end, but there are many plants still in bloom. The asters are the current stars; I was especially impressed with the white heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides, aster ericoïde), which has gorgeous plumes densely packed with small white flowers. So-called sky blue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentiangense, aster azuré) creates clouds of soft pale lavender, while New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, aster de Nouvelle-Angleterre) has big bright purple flowers. There are still some goldenrods (Solidago spp., verges d'or) and woodland sunflowers (Helianthus divaricatus, hélianthe à feuilles étalées), complementing the mauve asters with their bright yellow blooms. I also saw Campanula rotundifolia (harebells, campanule à feuilles rondes) in bloom for the first time in real life!

We planted seedlings of native plants at a new site (the former Sculpture Garden), including

• Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem, barbon de Gérard)
• Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane, apocyn à feuilles d'androsème)
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed, asclépiade tubéreuse)
• Campanula rotundifolia (harebell, campanule à feuilles rondes)
• Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, monarde fistuleuse)
• Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem, schizachyrium à balais)
• Solidago juncea (early goldenrod, verge d'or jonciforme)
• Symphyotrichum ericoides (white heath aster, aster ericoïde)
• Symphyotrichum oolentangiense (sky blue aster, aster azuré)

and others that I don't remember. (My son said they look like they're just weeds, but next year I'm sure they'll be lovely.) Nearby, another patch of ground was covered with heavy black plastic to kill the weeds through solarization. We'll be planting there next year.