As the summer days wane, some of our annual flowers will be fading as well. While it is hard to see garden favorites like petunias leave for the season, we still have time to enjoy some wonderful flowers that bloom at this time of year through October.
Asters provide a wonderful array of deep purple and lavender tones to liven up those last days of the growing season. They are very drought tolerant and love the Colorado climate. They are perennial flowers, which mean that you plant them in your garden, and with very little care, they will come again year after year to display their beauty.
Bees also love the fluffy daisy like flower heads, so if you want to attract more bees into your garden, you will find they are a very attractive plant to bees. If you visit any large garden center, you will find a nice selection of these lovely blooming plants. After they bloom, the dried seed heads can be left on the plant if you wish to provide seeds through the fall and winter for birds.
Here is a Plantalk bulletin about asters that will help you learn more about them.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1014.html
I hope you will consider these fall favorites for your garden.
