I have finally gotten most of the small field filled in with willowleaf aster 'Miss Bessie'. It's the only thing that I tried that has thrived up there and it's great for bees, butterflies and other pollinators, especially at a time when not much else is blooming in profusion.
A neighbor's well cover and another neighbor's barn in the background
Looking across the field to the neighbor's horse pasture. The drive turns left to go down to the house.
We've taken to parking the cars up top because of a cardinal that's been attacking the mirrors.
I think some years 'Miss Bessie' has a lovely grayish cast and other years it's more purple. This is a purple year.
The field sounds like a giant hive. So many bees!
Today I am joining Gail at clay and limestone for Wildflower Wednesday.
Wowee! I love these beautiful wildflowers and your whole field of them is just breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteSo great to see a post from you again. I have missed you Sweetbay ~ FlowerLady
Fabulous! I bet the blooms are spectacular in the early morning and late evening light.
ReplyDeleteThat's a gorgeous aster! What's the cardinal's beef with the mirrors on your car?
ReplyDeleteThe cardinal is fighting with its image in the mirror. Strangely enough it looks like a female but it's obviously got high testosterone levels, it's very territorial and aggressive. We got a brief reprieve after breeding season but once the refractory period was over the bird was back at the mirrors again.
DeleteWow, that is stunningly beautiful! It makes me happy to see those large swaths of healthy, gorgeous Asters. Ours here dried out during a drought this fall, and had a very short season. I hope next year is kinder to them. Thanks for sharing these scenes of healthy, lush plants. I'll bet the bees are so happy!
ReplyDeleteDivine dreamy photos. That cardinal must be very narcissistic. At least it doesn't attack humans like magpies do in their nesting season.
ReplyDeleteI still have Miss Bessie in my garden and love it. I so wish I had the sunnyspace to let her go!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the colour varies from year to year.
ReplyDeleteIs it perennial or annual?
It is a perennial! A good tough one too.
DeleteHi Sweetbay, I have always loved sweeping views of mass plantings in your garden, and this one is gorgeous! I imagine the pollinators are delerious! my own asters ( a much more modest offering!) have finished blooming, and I miss their purple blooms. I had hoped to coordinate them with fall foliage of nearby fothergilla, but it did not happen. The fothergillas have not yet started to turn. Still, the asters were lovely when they bloomed.
ReplyDeleteIt survives frost!
ReplyDeleteI love that about it.
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