Need August Blooming Perennials

Use this forum to discuss hardy perennials and bulbs. Full shade plants should go in the shade gardening forum.

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Midnight Reiter Too
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Need August Blooming Perennials

Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

I don't want my August garden to be completely yellow. What flowers that are blue, purple, or pink bloom in August?
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Old earth dog
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Post by Old earth dog »

My Buddleias (Butterfly bush) bloom from summer till frost if I keep them dead headed. They come in Lavendar, pink, dark red, white, yellow. The butterflys love them as do hummingbirds, hummingbird moths. Not the best pic, but I think the Hummingbird moth is on one called Black Knight.
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DryGulch
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Post by DryGulch »

Blue hyssop
Filipendula (Queen of the Prairie)
October Dapne Sedum
Coneflowers (white, pink, etc.)
Turtle head (white or pink)
Butterfly Bush (a whole palette of colors, white, pink, purple)
Mums
some roses have a second bloom then (or a rebloom)
Shrubs (spireas, artic blue dwarf leaf willow, dappled willow, smokebush)
honeysuckle (vine)
Moonbeam coreopsis (pale yellow)
Catmint (Walker's Low)
Sweet Autumn clematis
Artemesia limelight
Chives will rebloom in fall, if clipped
Hydrangea Annabelle
Some late-blooming hosta, the plantigineas, for example which are fragrant smelling like gardenia

Wow, long list, can you tell when my garden is blooming? And that I, too, dislike yellow and orange flowers?

:wink:

I particularly recommend the Sweet Autumn clematis and if you have the soil (well-drained) the pink turtlehead. Bees, hummingbirds and hawk moths love the blue hyssop. I had a couple hummingbirds theaten to fight me for the butterflybush last summer.

Rachelle
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Old earth dog
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Post by Old earth dog »

:cool: List Rachelle! I second the Sweet Atumn clematis.
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Midnight Reiter Too
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

OED, so that's the problem----I didn't deadhead my butterfly bushes. I'll be sure to do it this year!
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Midnight Reiter Too
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

Blue hyssop, yes, I have that if it survived the winter.
Coneflowers (white, pink, etc.), I have a few.
Butterfly Bush (a whole palette of colors, white, pink, purple), I have and I love and I didn't deadhead last summer.
Mums, I have but they don't bloom in early August.
Shrubs (spireas, artic blue dwarf leaf willow, dappled willow, smokebush), I only have 'Little Princess' spirea.
Moonbeam coreopsis (pale yellow), yes, I have three.
Artemesia limelight, I planted some but isn't it an annual?
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Midnight Reiter Too
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

DryGulch wrote: Filipendula (Queen of the Prairie)
Turtle head (white or pink)
honeysuckle (vine)
Catmint (Walker's Low)
Hydrangea Annabelle
Some late-blooming hosta, the plantigineas, for example which are fragrant smelling like gardenia


I particularly recommend the Sweet Autumn clematis and if you have the soil (well-drained) the pink turtlehead. Bees, hummingbirds and hawk moths love the blue hyssop. I had a couple hummingbirds theaten to fight me for the butterflybush last summer.

Rachelle
Rachelle, I don't have any support for the clematis to grow on. I also don't have any shade for hostas.
What are plantigineas?

Will the rest survive without too much water? We don't have an underground sprinkler system. :(
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Old earth dog
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Post by Old earth dog »

Just thought of a great blue for summer. (spelling?) Calioptoris, Blue Beard, blue Spirea. I didn't think about it cause DW made me move it behind the garage cause of all the bumble bees. They love it! :D
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

OED, I think I'd better get a lot of those! *claps and jumps up and down* :D Oh, my DH is scared of bees---too bad. :wink:
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Chris_W
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Post by Chris_W »

Oriental Lilies!

Then I would consider perennial hibiscus, tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) and Japanese anemones. :)
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

Chris, if I remember correctly my oriental lilies bloom in July. But I just remembered a tall pincushion(?) flower that I have; I think it's still blooming in August. Won't the deer and/or rabbits eat phlox?

By perennial hibiscus, do you mean that shrub called Rose of Sharon? Or is it a flower?

Yes, I have white Japanese anemones. I need to get some pink ones.
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Chris_W
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Post by Chris_W »

True, depending on how early your spring starts the oriental lilies can be blooming in July.

The perennial hibiscus die back every year and return from the roots. The plants get pretty big and the flowers get big too. They are extremely cold hardy.

Here are some pictures from our gardens of the flowers of different varieties:

Hibiscus 'Kopper King'

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Hibiscus 'Fireball'
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Hibiscus 'Turn of the Century'
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If you have good garden soil and can water often in the summer they will bloom for several weeks starting mid to late summer.
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Post by doublemom2 »

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, try Trycirtis for late summer blooms and into fall, most are pinks and purples...
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Post by insam »

tricyrtis, though lovely and timely, could be challenging with no shade. There are many asters that might work. also, ironweeds, hybrid anemones etc....
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Midnight Reiter Too
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

I like asters a lot. I'm not sure I've seen any blooming in early August. I'll look up ironweed since I can't remember what it is.

I wonder when red valerian blooms.

BTW, I'm about ready to buy umbrellas for the yard to create shade! LOL.
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Chris_W
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Post by Chris_W »

The botanical name for iron weed is Vernonia. It is like a giant aster. I love it in the garden, but you MUST deadhead it or it will be coming up all over the place.

Red Valerian blooms a long time but it has been banished from my gardens forever :evil: . One plant self seeded so badly that it took about 4 years to rid it from the gardens. And those seeds must have washed away when it rained or something because I saw it growing further down the driveway even! :wow:
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No shade for hosta? Nothing for the clematis to climb?

Post by DryGulch »

Reiter,

I found that the clematis simply needs a leg up...it'll use your house! I have a 6' old rusty handrail, tipped on end so the bars that would attach to the post go in the ground and leaned it against my house. Clematis is happy. (Menard's sells the same railing new for $10, antique it and away you go.)

H. plantiginea is the hosta with the fragrant white flowers, green, glossy leaves. THe frangrance is stronger at night so is great in an evening garden.

Put the hosta on the north side of the house, or a trellis...and by all means, plant some trees! Nothing is so rewarding!

I am not a big waterer. I am pretty much a scorched earth kind of girl. I "finally" laid down a soaker for my roses last year. Most of the plants I plant are drought tolerant. I mulch like crazy and am "blessed" with good dirt. (People always think I must be "blessed" because they think it is a miracle when they see what I throw in my new garden beds...any "trash" that will decompose (newspapers, food, grass, leaves, wood chips...). and as long as it doesn't have seed heads in place my weeds and clippings get thrown right where I pulled them or clipped them... and I add composted cow manure (from my Dad's cows) each fall.

Yes, I am blessed with good dirt. My whole front yard is hostas and then I have a 140' x 10' border bed (besides the basic yard landscaping) and I would go crazy trying to water it. I water it if I move something or have a new special baby, but that's pretty much it.

Rachelle
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Post by Midnight Reiter Too »

i'm getting inspired with all the ideas given to me on this thread.

Rachelle, I have 1 tree out front (a 'Snow Fountain' weeping cherry). The front yard is kind of small. I don't want anymore trees there. I have a large globe blue spruce at the corner of the yard.

In the back I have 1 Montmorency cherry, 3 pink dogwoods, 1 Japanese tree lilac (I think it's called 'Ivory Silk'), 1 dwarf dogwood, 2 hollies(they come up to my knees), and four Japanese yews that are about the size of the hollies. The cherry tree is the first that got planted and it's bigger than the other trees. I hope yews don't take forever to grow like holly. I think I'll be dead before those hollies look like trees.

For shrubs I have 5 'Wine & Roses' weigela (about 1-2' tall), 2 butterfly bushes, 3 'Little Princess' spirea, 1 flowering almond and 1 forsythia standard.

You wouldn't believe how small the yard is on the north side of the house. I have three 'Nikko Blue' hydrangeas, 2 chartreuse hostas(they didn't have labels), and 2 white columbines. I can't enlarge the flower bed there or we won't be able to use the riding mower in the back yard.

So how does that sound? That's after living here almost eleven years. I've been kind of disappointed that I couldn't do more, but it's a major step in my plan to finally get a rose arbor. My DH didn't want us to spend money on one but it's out there in the garage (unassembled).
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Post by Chris_W »

It's been fun discussing and reading about all these plants too. Now I can't wait for summer to see these flowers again :D
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Post by petal*pusher »

It's challenging to think what is NOT yellow in my yard during August....but maybe these pics will help!

http://community.webshots.com/album/45773091mXrQBB

http://community.webshots.com/album/83860485lmQLdq

Didn't have a lot of time in the gardens last year....but maybe the two previous seasons can give you a few ideas!.....p :wink:
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