California poppies and asters in bloom

Growing in a corner of our front yard is a lovely patch of California poppies Eschscholzia californica, California coastal poppies Eschscholzia californica var. maritima and Pacific (or California asters) Symphyotrichum chilense.

I'm so happy to see the asters doing well. One of my neighbors was thinning out his aster patch last fall and gave me two cuttings of the plant.

The Pacific aster is an important nectar plant for monarch butterflies, as well as for other butterflies and pollinators.