It's a golden autumn afternoon with a fathomless blue sky overhead. Against this radiance, a canopy of tulip poplars and sycamores filters light, sending down shafts of gold dust. The temperature is 60 deg F, and the annoying summertime gnats have disappeared. At this moment, the world is heartstoppingly beautiful. And gilding this perfection are countless asters in full, frothy bloom. Sunlight breaking through the diminishing tree canopy dances throughout my garden, illuminating tawny and scarlet leaves and plumes of ornamental grasses. It alights on the aster clouds and electrifies them. Irradiated, each fringe of petals glows around its central yellow disk. No wonder the botanical name "aster" comes from the Greek root for "star."
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