Michaelmas Daisies and Asters are herbaceous perennials and are better known in the UK as Michaelmas Daisies because the peak season of flowering is September and October, with Michaelmas day falling on 29th September. Hundreds of species and cultivated varieties are grown in gardens throughout the temperate regions of the world. Many more are cultivated worldwide for the cut flower industry.
We owe the existence of nearly all our popular Michaelmas Daisy cultivars to species native to Northern America. A much lesser number are derived from species of European and Asiatic origins. Only the alpine, Aster sibiricus, is native to North America, Europe and Asia.
