Flower ResourcesDiscover the right flowers for your garden.
After years of designing garden , Nick McCullough , of McCullough ’s Landscape & Nursery , has learned the gruelling style what works he can rely on — not just to survive , but to actually asterisk in the midsummer garden .
After the large brilliant blast of saltation efflorescence is over , there ’s ordinarily a rocky reaching for the garden . When temperatures and humidity get down go up , he matter on these 12 tried - and - on-key , mid- to later - season perennial and biennial that are utterly at home in a border or garden bottom .
Photo by : Doreen Wynja .
1 . SNEEZEWEED ( Helenium’Mardi Gras ' )
This absolutely named summer flower does just as it implies : it adds a political party to the garden . It produces a profusion of 2 - column inch colored efflorescence from August to other October , with bright orange petals splashed with yellow . This long - fucking , hot - colored perennial will animate up the cad days of summer . I often apply it as an accent to drifts of regal - blue flowers like giant hyssop ' Blue Fortune ' ( Agastache ) , and the fine grain of a bluegreen grass like fiddling bluestem ' The Blues ' ( Schizachyrium scoparium ) .
Bloom color : Yellow to red raysBloom meter : August - OctoberHeight / Spread:24 - 36”/12 - 18”Zones:4 - 9
Photo by : Marianne Majerus .
2 . FIRETAIL FLEECE ( Persicaria amplexicaulis’Firetail ' )
For a dad of blistering color that get going in June and lasts until the first frost , look no further thanPersicaria‘Firetail ’ . While not aggressive , this stout perennial likes a routine of room and will wander and weave amongst a border planting . The nursing bottle - thicket - like crimson flowers swaying above clumps of benighted green lanceolate foliage add a textural property to a pool ’s sharpness or in a prairie - style planting . It pairs superbly with contrasting - shaped bloom like purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea ) , grayish - head coneflower ( Ratibida pinnata ) , or a delicately textured grass like pink muhly ( Muhlenbergia capillaris ) .
flush color : CrimsonBloom clip : June - OctoberHeight / Spread:36 - 48”/36 - 48”Zones:4 - 8
3 . RUSTY FOXGLOVE ( Digitalis ferruginea )
This elegantfoxglove , redolent with grandiloquent , golden spires of vasiform bloom , is often used as a free - seeding biennial in prairie mode gardens . It make a bragging command in early summer by gracefully towering over its neighbour . Pair it with native prairie dropseed ( Sporobolus heterolepis),bluestar(Amsonia tabernaemontana ) , andSiberian iris(Iris sibirica ) . As an added bonus , this summer flower is as beautiful in a vase as it is in the garden . It performs best in part shade and in territory that does not go bone dry .
Bloom color : Creamy yellowBloom clip : May - JuneHeight / Spread:36 - 54”/12 - 18”Zones:4 - 10
4 . GERMAN GARLIC ( Allium senescensssp.montanumvar.glaucum )
This compact repeated sports a profusion ( up to 30 per flora ) of earth - mould lavender flower heads perched on slim stems . Unfazed by vivid rut , it adds a welcome splashing of color to the front of the summertime margin . The narrow , slightly twisted , downcast - immature leaf blades are also attractive , creating swirling evergreen plant mound . Bees , butterflies , and hummingbird adore the flower . As with allAllium , this industrial plant has a shadowy onion scent , so it ’s deer resistant . It will thrive for year if planted in an surface area with good drainage and full sunshine .
blooming color : Lavender - pinkBloom time : July to early fallHeight / Spread:6 - 12”/12”Zones:4 - 8
5 . marvellous VERBENA ( Verbena bonariensis )
This biennial / perennial has slender base topped with tufts of pink - purple flowers . It ’s a favorite of all nectar birdfeeder and the seed draw in small birds ( specially goldfinches ) , so plant it where you could observe it during the summer . Caution : It has been known to seed around a minute , and in warmer zones it can be invasive .
Bloom colour : fortunate lavenderBloom meter : June to frostHeight / Spread:36 - 48”/8 - 12”Zones:7 - 10
6 . with child CONEFLOWER ( Rudbeckia maxima )
Not your grandmother’sblack - eyed Susan , this rich American prairie indigene is a tour de military force in the summertime garden . In June and July , the powerful heyday issue on stems that are nearly 5 to 6 feet , with drooping ray of light of sensationalistic petals fence the very attractive sullen brown center cone cell . The large flower is a dearie of many fauna , such as monarch butterfly and morning coat butterfly stroke , and hummingbirds . Though the peak are often the focal pointedness , the foliation is nothing to overlook with its powdery blue , tobacco - corresponding leaves .
Bloom color : YellowBloom time : August - OctoberHeight / Spread:54 - 72”/36 - 48”Zones:4 - 9
7 . gargantuan HYSSOP ( Agastache’Blue Fortune ' )
Topped with tight bottlebrushes of lavender - drab flowers , elephantine Hyssopus officinalis is a show-stopper . The numerous tiny heyday are packed with elate quantity of nectar and pollen , so this flora is pure for any gardener who enjoys appeal bee , butterfly , and hummingbirds . Pair it with dark - leaved plants likePenstemon’Dark Towers ' andEupatorium’Chocolate ' because their wine - colourize foliage complements the blue flower so well . This easy - to - grow perennial is also both heat and drought liberal . Giant hyssop blooms from spring through summer . The foliage have a pleasant licorice olfactory property and are cervid resistant .
Bloom colour : Lavender - blueBloom fourth dimension : June - SeptemberHeight / Spread:30 - 36"/18 - 24"Zones:5 - 9
8 . DAHLIA ( Dahlia’Café au Lait ' )
' Café atomic number 79 Lait ' is a must - have for anydahlialover . This extremely sought after cultivar produces dinner - plate - sized flowers from June until frost . It ranges in color from creamy beige to peachy rosiness and has become a favorite of florists in late years . Grow for weakened efflorescence and combine it in a bouquet with ' Limelight ' hydrangea ( panicle hydrangea ) and black hollyhock ( Alcea rosea’Nigra ' . you’re able to maturate it as an yearly in cooler geographical zone , or dig tubers in the fall and lay in for replanting the undermentioned spring .
Bloom color : Creamy beigeBloom sentence : June - SeptemberHeight / Spread:36 - 48"/18 - 30"Zones:4 - 8
picture by : Rob Cardillo .
9 . SEA HOLLY ( Eryngium’Sapphire Blue ' )
This ocean holly cultivar sparkles in the garden , with starry , teasel - like flower heads in a brilliant steely blue coloration that keep on the stems and leaf . Like shabu crystals , the splenetic flush and lead labor from buckram , branching stubble above spiny basal rosettes . Sea holly is ideal as an architectural focal point and cool off full complement to hot - colorful flowers likeHelenium’Mardi Gras ' andCoreopsis . While some sea hollies reseed too vigorously , this one is sterile so is not invasive . They ’re very broad of inadequate sites , so plant sea holly in well - drained dirt , even sandy , in full sun . It will flop over if constitute in a too - rich or too - shadowy location .
Bloom color : Steely blueBloom time : June - AugustHeight / Spread:24 - 30”/18 - 24”Zones:5 - 8
exposure by : Clive Nichols / GAP Photos / Getty Images ..
10 . BILLY button ( Craspedia globosa )
Also visit drumsticks , this native of Australia and New Zealand can be recurrent on the West Coast but is broadly speaking replant every twelvemonth as an annual in other place . Its low tufts of silvery leaf , a foot marvelous or so , variation numerous mustard - yellow ball of flowers bob on thin , 2 - foot stalks throughout the summertime . A truly tough plant , Billy Buttons tolerates poor , heavy dirt and drought . The flowers are beloved by florists and form well in both fresh and desiccated arrangements . They make a playful , kinetic accession when tuck into a margin .
Bloom colouration : YellowBloom time : June - SeptemberHeight / Spread : Foliage 12 - 18”/6 - 10 ” ; Bloom 24”Zones:3 - 10
11 . GIANT THISTLE ( Cirsium rivulare’Atropurpureum ' )
have-to doe with to the artichoke and Cynara cardunculus , and not trespassing like its cousin the bull’s eye thistle , this extremely coveted thistle is perfectly stunning . In July and August , its deep crimson flowers hover above striking , deeply switch off , bluish - greenish leaf on racy , upright stems . Equally at base along the weewee ’s edge or in a prairie - style perennial border , this giant thistle adds an gentle wind of whimsy to a garden in motivation of summertime color , and also makes a wonderful cut blossom . Pair it with a perennial that has pocket-size , rounded foliage , likeblue false indigo(Baptisia australis ) for textural contrast . This is a must - have for all the works nerds out there .
Bloom coloring material : Dark crimsonBloom time : July - SeptemberHeight / Spread:36 - 48”/18 - 24”Zones:5 - 9
12 . CULVER ’S ROOT ( Veronicastrum virginicum’Fascination ' )
This is another fine example of an American aborigine that is utterly at habitation in the design garden . establish this graceful perennial in the border and you will be the envy of the neighborhood . The stalks , which can be up to 5 feet tall , are adorned with candelabras of slender , lilac - colored blossom spike that come forth in July and August . Despite its summit , it typically only needs staking if planted in too much tint . It combines well with other natives like large coneflower ( Rudbeckia maxima ) and tufted pilus skunk ( Deschampsia cespitosa ) .
Bloom people of colour : Rosy lilacBloom meter : July - AugustHeight / Spread:48 - 54”/18 - 30 ” ; bloom of youth to 60”Zones:3 - 8
