flowers – Blue Willow Lane

A beautiful planter combination using a variety of colors and textures is a wonderful way to extend your gardening season. To continue to enjoy your outdoor spaces and maximize your floral displays, make sure to include some plantings especially designed for cooler weather.

Recently, we visited the H. O. Smith Botanic Garden in Central Pennsylvania which always offers stunning views in every season. We would love to share some of the September plantings we saw there to give you ideas for your own container gardening.

Consider a tall focal point like this Ornamental Millet.

Colorful pansies are a perfect cool weather flower, combined here with beautiful ornamental kale and a mum in the background.

Ornamental grass, dahlias, petunias, and daisies make a striking combinations.

Ornamental kale is combined with celosia for a lovely planting.

This bright red coleus continues to look impressive in September.

For a more formal planting, try a small tree form plant like this beautiful magnolia.

A mass planting of greenery, ivy, and mums makes a stunning display.

This gorgeous, unique container planting showcases a multitude of succulents.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what kind of ideas master gardners come up with for their fall plantings. I will be working on my own containers this week, and while they will likely not be as spectacular as these, it’s so much fun to put them together and enjoy the outdoors.

Have a beautiful day, and try some new gardening ideas! 🙂

Perennial plants and shrubs provide the backbone of the ornamental garden. By late summer, most of us notice our flower beds starting to look a little worn out, tired, and faded. With some advance planning, you can ensure your garden will still be putting on a brilliant display, even while the air gets cooler and autumn approaches. Here are ten beautiful and hardy perennials that will still be chugging along, even at the beginning of September.

These plants are still looking good in September.

Hydrangea

Hydrangeas provide a striking accent in the garden from mid-summer on. I love hydrangeas and their beautiful and dramatic large bloom clusters. The mid-summer varieties will still be holding blooms in September, though most will be twinged with green by now. I have one blue and pink variety ‘Endless Summer” that is still blooming true to color. The late-blooming paniculata types are still in their prime and provide a great option for end-of-summer blooms.

These vibrant yellow, daisy-like flowers start blooming late in the Summer and right through September. Their beautiful, rich fall color makes a gorgeous garden display or arrangement.

3. Hosta

I love this hosta. The original plant came from my late grandmother’s yard, and has formed a big gorgeous clump of lush foliage at the corner of my shady garden. We enjoy the foliage all season, then late in August, these fantastic, lily-like blooms appear.

4. Cinnamon Fern

This tall, striking fern looks great in my garden this time of year, even as many of my other ferns have browned in the late Summer months. This focal point just keeps getting better and better as the season goes on.

5. Knockout Roses

After a huge display early in the year, the knockout roses have continued to produce to a slightly lesser extent throughout the whole growing season. As I look at my garden in September, I still enjoy a large number of these vibrant and prolific rebloomers.

6. Day Lily

Will the daylilies never quit? Each blossom lasts for only one day, yet they keep going. It’s such a treat to peek into the garden corner and see more of these pretty blooms each day.

7. Butterfly Bush, a tall perennial that appears more like a shrub, produces its best blooms late in the season. With an appearance similar to lilac, this beautiful flower continues to draw in all kinds of butterflies and hummingbirds.

8. Japanese Anemone

Delicate-looking Japanese Anemone or windflower is really just getting started this time of year. I planted a couple of anemones a few years ago and am still surprised when I look at the fence row and see these tall, lovely, long-stemmed beauties making their late-Summer appearance.

9. False Sunflower

This tall, cheerful, easygoing perennial blooms right on into early fall. I am trying these for the first time, and have them in a container with other colorful late-blooming flowers. So far I’m loving the combination.

10. Lamb’s ear

Lamb’s ears are such a fun little plant to grow! With their thick, fuzzy, silvery foliage, they are very on-trend in arrangements and bouquets right now too. I have had them in my garden for years. They are reliable, easy to grow, and provide a long season of garden interest.