Spiderwort

 

Early October

It's early October and the goldenrods are waning. 

The honey girls are everywhere, frantically gathering the last bits of pollen and nectar.  Winter is coming.

There are quite a few blossoms  left on the cut leaf coneflower.

 

 Though mostly just the seed heads.

It's aster season.  We have at least three species growing around the house above Heck Creek.  

The first is this tiny-flowered one.  The flowers are about 1/2 inch in diameter and the centers are pinkish when the flowers are mature.

Then there is this white one with yellow centers and larger flowers, 3/4 to an inch in diameter.

And finally we have this blue one. It's flowers are in the 3/4 to 1 1/4-inch range.

The honey girls don't seem to have a color preference.  They're buzzing around  them all doing the final gather before winter.

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Beard Tongue

We had a lot of this plant in our yard in Missouri and it grew well.  We brought one small plant with us from Missouri and it seems well-adapted to the North Carolina clay.

Penstemon digitalis "Husker Red"

The stems and new leaves are reddish in color.

Honey bees and other bees are frequent visitors. (Look how fast the wings are buzzing.)

And here is why the plant's common name is beard tongue.  Take a look at the flower's stigma and style.