Late summer flowers

It’s almost the end of August already! Wow, this year is passing by so very fast. Although many gardeners might think that summer abundance is coming to an end and the only option is for their garden to look ‘green’ at this time of year, with the warmer climate we have these days, the summer in recent years has extended into the early part of Autumn and into October. So, in fact, canny gardeners can really extend their year of colour with late flowering perennials.

Those who are familiar with the Genus brand and motifs might not be surprised to know that the garden is designed around a hot orange/red/yellow scheme. It does really well through August and September, and in a good year goes right into October. A range of flowers look great right now, including Heleniums, Dahlias, Crocosmia, Cosmos and Rudbeckia.The effect of such a display for example like the one seen in the photo above taken at Kew this week, is pretty stunning.

We think it makes sense to have a late summer garden.It means the gardener can sit out in it and enjoy it when the weather is likely to be at it’s best!

Inspiration for late summer gardens comes from places like Bourton House, not far from Genus HQ.The gardens at Bourton use decorative topiary as their framework which reminds us that late summer gardens need shape and texture as much as colour. The East border at Bourton has hot Canna lillies, purple leaved Dahlias and red salvias which bring a touch of tropical glamour to the late summer scheme. A little further afield, Great Dixter too is famous for it’s late summer colour and the use of tropical and sub-tropical planting schemes. September is proof of the late summer floral pudding in the form of RHS Wisley Flower Show and Malvern Autumn Show are both great venues for looking at, and perhaps even buying, some late summer colour inspiration.

Roll-on the Indian summer we say!