Put some late summer colour in your garden

Usually, late summer finds many gardens a bit tired-looking. Usually, around this time, your annuals have become quite ragged and the color of perennials has faded into memory. The good news is that you can still give your garden a shot in the arm and a nice flourish of late-summer color is still possible. The problem not any shortage of good late-summer perennials but one of timing. Usually, when we are at the garden centre we overlook fall bloomers for their early summer varieties. Keep this in mind when planning next year's garden.

Think late-summer blooms and pick these late bloomers to get your garden blooming throughout the summer. Peachie's Pick aka Stokesia llaevis is a small blue aster that blooms in August. Chrysanthemums are also good candidates for late summer coloring since these plants bloom from the early days of September all the way to later days of October. Mums are great for some late blooms too but you have to ensure they over winter well by mulching them with adequate straw or boughs of evergreens. Another great candidate for a late summer blast of colour is the Coneflower aka Echinacea purpurea. These are very hardy plants that not only live long; they are also easy to grow and attract quite a bit of butterflies. If you are looking for a plant that loves to put on a late-summer show, you can't go wrong with coneflowers.