Jewels for the Late Summer Garden

Between the Mary Jane from wildfires and relentless hotness , I ’ve almost had to give up being outside . But I come up with a plan that included a list of plant life that take the blistering heat , survive handsomely with less than 12 inches of rain a yr , and still number out appear good time of year after season .

Just when you are dog hackneyed of the dog days , Japanese anemones ( windflower hupehensis , Zones 5–8 ) , start waving their elegant blossoms , as if hollo , “ Hey , you ! Look at me ! ” They are 2 to 4 feet tall , with blooms that range from the whitest white to a rosy-cheeked deep pinko , some with double petals . Tight delicacy buds remindful of dogwood tree blossom open and sway , brood over the other foliage in the garden with an supernal front . ‘ Queen Charlotte ’ , ‘ Honorine Jobert ’ , and ‘ Pamina ’ are my favoriteAnemone hupehensishybrids .

Autumn asters(Symphyotrichumspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) will fall up your late - season garden with little blossoms that almost glisten in the sunlight . You may want to give the plant a couple of haircut throughout the summertime to keep them kempt . fluid blue aster ( Symphyotrichum laeve , Zones 3–8 ) and calico aster ( S. lateriflorum , Zones 4–8 ) are my new favorites . ‘ Lady in Black ’ and ‘ Prince ’ are calico aster cultivars with dark purple - tint foliage . ‘ steam organ ’ , a unruffled blue aster selection , is a morsel different : it still has the drear black fore and drab foliage , but with large , lilac - blue flowers .

Autumn Joy sedum . Photo : Mary Ann Newcomer

‘ Matrona ’ sedum . Photo : Mary Ann Newcomer

‘ Frosty Morn ’ sedum . Photo : Jennifer Benner

finally , no garden should be without what we used to call tall sedums ( Hylotelephiumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) . I would venture to infer that many of us grew up with the honest-to-goodness understudy Autumn Joy ( H.‘Herbstfreude ’ , Zones 3–9 ) . But now we can trade her in for a new model , specifically ‘ Matrona ’ , ‘ Neon ’ , ‘ Bronze Orbit ’ , or ‘ Frosty Morn ’ , which are all tall , bighearted late bloomers that really rock the garden from late July into August . The pinkish cultivar make grow rosy blooms , while ‘ Frosty Morn ’ has creamy seed head .

When the smoke has cleared and the temperature drops , the garden is ready for me again . conceive these the long - lasting jewels of the late summertime garden . Please do n’t overwater them .

Mary Ann Newcomer is the author of two books : Rocky Mountain Gardener ’s HandbookandVegetable Gardening in the Mountain States .

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