Common Michaelmas Daisy

Michaelmas, or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, is celebrated on the 29th of September every year. As it falls near the equinox, the day is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days; in England, it is one of the “quarter days”. It used to be said that harvest had to be completed by Michaelmas, almost like the marking of the end of the productive season and the beginning of the new cycle of farming. It was the time at which new servants were hired or land was exchanged and debts were paid. This is how it came to be for Michaelmas to be the time for electing magistrates and also the beginning of legal and university terms.


At this time of year many gardens are brightened by the blooms of Michalemas daisies, which comprise a number of species and hybrids, and have mostly been bred for colour or garden performance. We have some beautiful purple and magenta ones in our garden, just coming into bloom. But I also value the simplicity of this wildling, a self-seeded Common Michaelmas Daisy which is a hybrid that reproduces by seed and is widely naturalised on waysides and waste ground. Look out for it on any train journeys, providing a useful source of autumn pollen along the edges of the tracks.