All the other colors are just colors, but purple seems to have a soul — when you look at it, it’s looking back at you.
~Uniek Swain
I have always thought that fall wildflowers tend to be yellow and gold, but much to my surprise all but one of the new kinds of wildflowers that I saw in Georgia are purple!
My daughter Lauren, the one who has devotedly proofread, edited, and uploaded these blog posts, loves purple. I would like to dedicate this purple-focused blog post to my faithful editor! (Thanks, Mom! :D)
These beautiful Late Purple Asters were common in the north Georgia mountains, growing at the side of the Appalachian Trail in almost every partly sunny location!
The other common plant I saw along the trail is also an aster, but it grows in a more clustered form and the flowers are smaller. Called Purple-Stemmed Aster, this plant reminds me of Fleabane!
Occasionally in a sunny area I would see Phlox, a sweet smelling wildflower that is a favorite with butterflies.
I have never seen this odd wildflower before. The foliage of Naked-Flowered Tick Trefoil is close to the ground, and the stem that the flowers grow on is indeed naked except for the flowers themselves, which I guess accounts for the strange name.
This beauty is called Common Self Heal. This strange name is due to the ubiquity of this herb in traditional medicine around the world.
Probably the most spectacular plant I saw on the trail, Lobelia is not only a wildflower but a common garden plant.
This stunning plant is called Monkshood. One of the most toxic plants known, it has been used since ancient time as a poison. Earlier cultures applied it on spears and arrows for hunting, and the ancient Romans used it as a method of execution!
Striped Gentian, with its balloon shaped buds, is very distinctive. I can’t decide if I think the buds or the blooms of the flower are prettier. It is a plant native to America and is considered endangered.
Buds 
Blooms
A common roadside plant, Chicory has been used as a food source and medicinal herb by many cultures. It was introduced to the United States during colonial times but soon escaped into the wild. To see and appreciate the bloom of the Chicory plant, you will have to get up early, because by late afternoon the flower is closed up for the rest of the day!
The last purple wildflower I saw was Common Dittany, an elegant member of the mint family. Another common name for this plant is Gas Plant because in hot weather old flowers give off a flammable oil which can be ignited with a match!
Grass of Parnassus was the only new wildflower that I saw in Georgia that was not purple. This unusual plant looks nothing like grass: it is so named because of the translucent green stripes on the white flowers. The dark green heart-shaped leaves cup the stems in a distinctive way. A bog plant, this beauty is increasingly hard to find because of the destruction of its wetland habitat.
Since every new wildflower except one that I saw in Georgia was purple I will always think of Georgia as the land of purple wildflowers!
And I am giving a special thanks to my daughter Lauren for her work in producing this blog!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!