The Garden in Purple

Yellow dominated my garden for weeks. Mountain sunflowers and cut leaf coneflowers towered over much of the garden. Goldenrod and black- and brown-eyed Susans spread over other corners of the garden.

As the days grow shorter, the tide has turned. The yellow brigade ended its parade, and the purple-colored plants have taken center stage.

A delightful new addition from Mt Cuba Center, small-headed blazing star or small-headed gayfeather, has joined my garden menagerie. It immediately began blooming (typically it blooms from late summer to early fall).

It likes full sun and dry to medium soils. Liatris microcephala has delicate grass-like leaves. Like other liatris, bees favor the flowers.

Ohio spiderwort or blue jacket re-bloomed producing vibrant purple-blue flowers after a summer pruning. Tradescantia ohiensis prefers moist, well- drained soil.  

Violet blue aromatic aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, is considered highly deer resistant. It grows from 1 to 3 feet high and wide and blooms from September to October and adds a great late fall color. Mine spreads rapidly and I have transplanted portions of it numerous times.

An American honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis) bloom waits for a migrating hummingbird. American honeysuckle, as opposed to the nonnative shrub and vining honeysuckles) are among the most manageable native vines that one can grow.

Photos by Dave O’Callaghan.