Fall Asters

I attended the Perennial Symposium held at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia last week. Since we are in the midst of the worst drought on record, all of the talks were focused on drought tolerant plants. One perennial group in particular was discussed at length due to its hardiness and drought tolerance: the Aster family.

Right now there are many beautiful asters in full bloom despite the lack of water. This includes Goldenrod (solidago), White Aster (ericoides), and Ironweed (Vernonia). Not only are they nice to look at, they provide nectar for many insects including butterflies. Other asters such as Sunflowers (Helianthus) and Coneflowers (Echinacea ) provide seeds for birds.


To learn more about drought tolerant plants see this link. To learn more about native asters see this link.