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Autumn means that there are few flowers left in the garden here, but there is at least a splash of colour still from the asters. The bright pink one above (name unknown because it came from a friend’s garden) is almost over now. It was glorious while it lasted, but now the softer shades of pink and blue have taken over.
The lavender-blue aster flowers have been especially popular with bees and hoverflies in the last week or so. We had a very hot and sunny spell, so the bees were out in force, making the most of the chance to find pollen and nectar before the flowers disappear. Every time I passed by these daisies, they seemed to be buzzing…a sound to make me happy!
It was interesting to see that there were fewer bees attracted to the pale pink asters. (I know the name of this one – Symphyotrichum laeve ‘Les Moutiers’. But I have to admit that I did a cut and paste for the name, rather than try to spell it!) Some time ago, I read that bees prefer blue and purple-blue flowers. That was probably the reason why they didn’t bother with this pink one as much.
I noticed too, that there were a lot more honeybees than bumblebees, but that won’t be surprising if there’s a hive not very far away. There were also what appeared to be a couple of tiny dark-coloured bees, but they were too quick for me to get a good look at them. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that this hasn’t been a good year for insects in the garden, so it was a pleasure to see these late flowers so busy with pollinators. Let’s hope they’re even busier next year!
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
No doubt many of us have trouble remembering which vowel is an i and which a y in Symphyotrichum.
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Hehe, that’s a good reason to just call them asters! 🙂
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Your strategy avoids orthographic dis-asters.
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LOL, you are right! Don’t want any dis-asters here!
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So many of our asters are tiny things; it’s hard for me to keep them sorted, if I ever manage it in the first place. It doesn’t help that many species are white. A little color would be helpful from time to time! These are exceptionally pretty. I always enjoy finding some that have their disk flowers changing color; the reddish and yellow centers complement one another so nicely.
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It’s hard to tell the cultivated varieties apart too – there are so many! Some of mine came from friends’ gardens and I’ve no idea what they are, but they’re very pretty. (I have others that I bought, so I do know what those are. 🙂 )
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I’ve noticed a few hoverflies still about, I don’t usually see them in October. That bright flower is like a Flamenco frock. Didn’t know bees preferred bluey flowers. Interesting.
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I saw a big hoverfly yesterday – huge by comparison with the ones we usually have here. Sadly I didn’t have a camera handy, but maybe there will be more of them around next year. I often think flowers are like fancy dresses, especially when they have swirly or ruffled shapes. 🙂
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These Aster images are beautiful! The colors are incredible. On the bee note, I have some rather large bees in my bright red Firecracker plants – not sure what that means, maybe they are desperate since I don’t have a lot going in my yard right now. They definitely have a presence in them.
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Thank you! 🙂 Asters bring a lot of gorgeous colours to the garden at this time of year. I have a pretty purple-blue one to plant today – if I can decide where to put it! It’s great that you still have flowers for the bees at this time of year. They might be queen bees getting ready to hibernate in winter – if that happens in your area!
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How nice to have some late insect visitors, Ann. I love the various asters and the fact that they tend to bloom for a long time and late into autumn. Many of them are very hardy.
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It was wonderful to hear the buzzing coming from the purple-blue asters. That one seemed particularly popular, so I will try propagating it for more happy bees. 🙂
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