Raucous “jay-jay” alerts announce that acorns and hickory nuts are ripening for wildlife harvesting in Shepherdstown. Once you hear the blue jay’s jeering call, look for this large songbird’s perky head crest and striking blue, white and black plumage amongst the leaves still holding firm, high in the oak trees. Hard shelled nuts and seeds prove no match for the forceful pounding from their sizable bills.

In addition to our handsome jay birds, be sure to look to the suburban garden for still more blue. Many native and non-native plants and their hybrids make your end-of-season garden full of vibrant color. Gardeners (and jazz musicians alike) have always valued the blues, so we’ll focus on a few plants that paint your landscape with this pleasing hue.

Mealy cup sage is a sure-fire perennial performer in our limestone soils. Jay-blue flowers cover branching, square stems from late spring until first frost. This salvia is named for the powdery felting found on its upper stems and flower sepals. Spires of blue with stunning gray-green foliage stage a perfect backdrop for chrysanthemums or goldenrod. Cutting back summer’s tall growth in early August ensures vigorous late blooming. Either divide or allow this sage to self-seed for additional plants.

Daisy-like asters are a fixture of late summer beds and borders, but none are more lovely than the smooth aster with flowers of violet-blue rays surrounding a sunny yellow center.

Find this wildflower on dry slopes of cleared areas. Farmers markets often feature a wide variety of asters for sale this time of year. Tuck this favorite cottage garden plant with multicolored gourds in a fodder shock of corn stalks for an easy post light display.

We hardly expect a shrub to sport periwinkle blue flowers, yet the blue mist spirea does just that. This mounding shrub is commonly known as bluebeard for its flowers resembling clouds of blue smoke. From the moment this deciduous bush begins to bloom, butterflies and bees can’t resist paying homage. The weight of winter’s snow may damage delicate branches, so cut back hard in early spring to promote new stem growth and fall flowering.

Sing the blues with these reliable performers and others, such as the feathery Russian sage that require little maintenance yet produce a surplus of flowers. Deer avoid the foliage and voles give their root systems wide berth. Pair blue flowering plants with orange, red and yellow bloomers or decorations for eye-catching contrast that even the birds wouldn’t dare to mock.

Home gardening assistance is found year-round on Cooperative Extension websites.

Make sure to research before you buy, even as you stand gazing at the plants in the local nursery.

Kristi Hendricks is a graduate of Shepherd College and West Virginia University and a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at belowthejames@yahoo.com.