Sun (actually lack of it) dictates when asters bloom. They're obligate short-day plants, meaning they need several weeks of short days to trigger flowering. They're native New Englanders that are in full bloom now.
(BTW, I'm an obligate long-day gardener, meaning that I'd rather sleep all day in the winter. Like the aster, I am a native New Englander, at least as far back as I can remember.)
7 comments:
Beautiful, such a pretty and underestimated plant, the Bee is certainly enjoying it. I am going to put on my seed list an Aster that my friend Jan grew this year (Aster Duchess Mixed). The large colourful mix of flower heads resembled Chrysanthemums, great for cutting to bring a bit of late Summer indoors.
Marian (LondonUK)
Beautiful picture, Kathy. The bee even throws a shadow! Little does he know his days are numbered now.
Wow, I don't know if I've ever seen a bee shadow before!
I looked up how long honey bees live. They live 4-6 weeks. A hive will overwinter if it has at least 20-30 lbs of honey, but that's because the bees repopulate it. Guess that's what they do all winter, eat honey and repopulate. No more flowers til spring.
I've read that queen bees can live anywhere from 1 to 5 years...it must be nice at the top.
I take that back...I'd rather snuggle up to flowers for 4-6 weeks then spend 1-5 years as a queen confined to my cell.
Great shot Kathy. I planted asters in the urns out front this year, I am really pleased with them. The bugs really like them too as your photo shows.
Beautiful photo and asters (and even bee)!
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