OK, I lied... but not deliberately. A few days ago, when I noted that Witch Hazels were the last flowers to appear, I honestly believed that I was telling the unvarnished truth. Witch Hazels typically are the tail-end of the blooming season. However, on today's trek up our road and back, I noticed something, very close to the house and by the side of the road, that caught my eye. This appeared to be one flower, and when I stopped to get a closer look, it was clearly some kind of aster in bloom, a blossom at least a month later than any of its compatriots. The plant had weird leaves that clasped the stem, and that gave me a clue to its identity: the appropriately named Late Purple Aster. According to my Peterson Field Guide to the Wildflowers, the plant known as Aster patens is supposed to call it a season sometime in October, but this one clearly hadn't read the book. Chalk up another benefit to having to get on the road and walk—I spotted what surely has to be the true omega of blossom time.