Planting Ideas for Late Summer Blooms
Here are some late summer flowers that will rejuvenate the look of the garden and lift any gardener’s spirits.
Summer Hyacinth, Ornithogalum candicans, is a perennial bulb; plant it now for next year’s bloom. It has a blooming funnel-shaped flower, and the plant wants regular water during spring and summer growth and bloom. Like the tuberose rhizome, it is better to leave the Summer Hyacinth bulb undisturbed from year to year.
Meadowsweet or Fernleaf, Filipendula ulmaria, prefers damp soil and blooms tiny pink or white flowers on plumes of coarse leaves. For best results, plant this in partial shade.
Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia, grows four to ten feet tall and its blooms are on four-to-six-inch spires of white spicy-fragrant flowers. It likes regular water and is happier in partially acidic soil. It will do well in full to partial sun.
Butterfly Bush, Buddleja spp., is a stunning and eye-catching plant with flowers, on a dense spike that attracts butterflies. Plant in well-draining soil and give it ample water during its growing season. It will die back during a winter freeze, but it will regrow from its roots and rebloom.
Most varieties of Sedum will be beautiful assets this time of year. The one- to two-foot-tall plant bears rounded smaller star-shaped pink cluster flowers, which turn to coppery pink and then rust. It is a succulent perennial, and most are evergreen. This plant is easy to propagate from cuttings of its leaves and stems.
Everyone’s favorite is easy-to-grow Sage, Salvia spp., that has fragrant foliage and flowers. It prefers well-draining soil and regular deep water. Specifically, the Woodland Sage, Salvia nemorosa, sprouts from a rhizome and blooms through fall. The Meadow Sage, Salvia nemorosa ‘Ostfriesland,’ has intense violet bluish flowers with pinkish purples bracts. ‘Purple Majesty’ is a shrubby Salvia and has long-blooming purple flowers. Mexican Sage, Salvia leucantha, has a hint of pine fragrance and is yellow-green calyxes and violet blue flowers will brighten the yard. Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans, is a delightful-smelling and beautifully bright. It is stunning and easy to grow. Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii, with its showy pink, white, red or orange flowers, likes full sun and is drought resistant. Salvia attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies and is deer resistant. For best results, cut it back every year.
Goldenrod, Solidago, can live in most any type of soil. It is a woody perennial that is two to three feet tall and produces feathery yellow flower clusters. This, too, attracts butterflies.
Nemesia is a semi-trailing plant, 14-16 inches tall and 16 inches wide with sweetly fragrant white blooms. It likes full sun and will flower until the first frost.
Consider the colorful Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia, too. ‘Prairie Sun’ variety has pale green centers surrounded by three- to six-inch-wide blooms. The petals near the center are butter to yellow color. It is a great cutting flower.
Summer Phlox ‘Bright Eyes,’ Phlox paniculata, has flower clusters in the shape of domes and small pastel flowers will last well into fall.
If you would like to discuss what would work well in your particular garden, the UC Master Gardeners of El Dorado County are here to bounce ideas off of! Reach out through our Ask a Master Gardener survey, and we'll get back to you when we're in the office.
Click here to Ask a Master Gardener
This article, written by UC Master Gardener of El Dorado County Kit Smith, first appeared in the Mountain Democrat.