Garden design: 5 wonderful plants for late summer interest

Late summer can often be a rather tricky time for our gardens. The colour and abundance of earlier in the season can often feel like a fairly distant memory as many of our favourite perennials are now beginning to look tired and faded. This is particularly the case in drier or hotter years when the gap before we can enjoy the rich tones of autumn can seem excessively long. 

 

There are, however, plenty of superb plants we can turn to for late summer interest, and here are five of our favourites:

 

 

1. Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ (pictured): a sure-fire way to add fiery red heat to any mixed planting scheme, C. ‘Lucifer’ had delightful red flowers on tall thin stems. Flowering from July through to early September, this is a great plant for weaving through a border.

 

2. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’: a very versatile perennial which can cope with very dry conditions when established. S. ‘Autumn Joy’ has glaucous fleshy foliage and clumps of lovely coral pink small flowers. A real star of any late-summer garden.

 

3. Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’: with simple daisy-like flowers of golden yellow petals and dark brown/black centres, R. 'Goldsturm' is a brilliant perennial for late summer and early autumn. Approximately 70cm in height when established.

 

4. Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’: a fabulous plant, with lovely orange/red petals and chocolately brown centres. Flowering throughout June, July and August, this is a great option for adding summer warmth to a mixed border.

 

5. Echinacea ‘White Swan’: an elegant coneflower, with simple white flowers with large yellow/green centres. Flowering on stems of up to 70cm in height, this lovely perennial quietly performs from midsummer through to early autumn.

 

 

There are, of course, a number of other plants that provide plenty of interest over the last few weeks of the summer, including some flowering shrubs such as Ceanothus ‘Autumnal Blue’ and some of our wonderful ornamental grasses (Miscanthus and Stipa to name just two). Why not take this opportunity to add a few new plants to give your garden a late summer boost?

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Tythorne Garden Design provides professional fixed-fee garden design solutions for customers in Grantham, Stamford, Newark and surrounding areas. Let's see how we can help you to enjoy your garden more. Call us on 07900 224 239 or 01529 455 355.

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