The one in the pot is a blueberry.

Oh for heavens sake, how did I miss that? Thank you for the identification. The birds just love to eat them.

the second group of photos are stokesia or stoke's aster, perhaps 'honeysong purple'.

Thank you for the id on the aster. Those asters have amazing flowers.

I'm a Mainer and second the blueberry ID. Self-pollinating highbush blueberry of some kind, to be exact. :)

https://gardenerspath.com/plants/fruit/grow-highbush-blueberries/

Thank you so much for the primer. Now I have a better idea on how to care for the blueberry bushes. There are 3 more planted in the ground that don’t look well. I will do a soil test to see if the soil ph is the problem. I appreciate the great information!

People around here say the trick is not to use regular fertilizer; I have a friend who swears by adding Epsom salts, but you should probably do a bit of research to see what additives will work best in your soil and climate. Happy berrying! :)

Thank you. I will do some research on the Epsom salts—anyone from Maine suggesting it is probably on to something!

Epsom salt is NOT a fertilizer! At best, it is a magnesium supplement. Blueberries benefit from any fertilizer for acid loving plants - cottonseed meal, MirAcid, etc.- or any other fertilizer that is not nitrate based (nitrates are too harsh).

An annual application of compost or composted manure works well also.

Yes, I'm not advocating replacing all fertilizer with the epsom, just use as supplement if you do a bit of research and find out if my friend is on to something. Her blueberries are definitely gorgeous every year here in Maine. What I meant to say with "fertilizer" is that regular manure-based compost may have too much of some elements.

Aha, did a bit of googling and here's what the Maine Organic Growers have to say:

So I guess that's where the Epsom comes in. Reference link:

https://www.mofga.org/resources/blueberries/highbush-blueberries/

My blueberries in the ground get to fend for themselves and do pretty well. We pull the weeds (mostly) and mulch the beds (leaf, bark bark, pine needle, whatever's handy); if its super hot and dry they might get a round of watering, and if I have some extra water when running around watering new plants, I'll dump the end of the watering can on them. Mostly they get treated like the rest of the perennial garden, which gets no special care unless plants are risking getting crispy. They have adored our rainy July this year and have been giving bigger berries than previous years. We have mildly acidic soil, near neutral.

I'd go take a picture, but, go figure, it's raining.

These are my favorite resources for northern highbush blueberries:

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2253e/

https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/f/575/files/2015/12/7blueberries-2mndel3.pdf

Thanks for all the great blueberry information