Summer Shiners

The summer bedding is gorgeous and mixed containers and basket will bring us joyful colour hopefully until the first frosts. I have been having a rummage round, taking a look at some of the best individual stand alone summer plants and some of the perennials for later summer colour this year. What’s out now, what should take us through the season and what is about to burst. Here are a few suggestions.

Ideal in Pots or Summer Pots and Borders

First on my list is cosmos not only because I love it but it just looks so good mixed in clumps.

It works in drifts planted in borders and it looks great in containers. You must work at dead heading finished flowers so it doesn’t finish early and as with all bedding regular feeding and watering. 

This year we have been able to supply the Happy Days dahlias again. They are a really good series. Strong flowers and deep contrasting foliage. Colours are red, purple, pink, cream a yellow and an orange bi-colour. I have found them reliable and appreciated the slugs don’t appear to go for the foliage.

Gaura Rosy Jane another lovely gaura for summer

Gaura is summer shiner that will take us through into autumn. Our Gaura lindheimeri Baby Butterfly has dark pink floating heads of flower. It is a compact variety so it just the right size for pots and containers.

Salvias come very high up the summer shiner list and this is where to find them. More on salvias

 

Salvia Love and Wishes

Perennials Just Coming Out

On the nursery beds we have been putting out Leucanthemum Broadway Lights. It a gorgeous bold yellow daisy. Its reasonably tall making it a mid-height border plant. The back drop of bright yellow will make a good contrast for some strong purples or bright blues. Yellow can wake a border up.

Leucanthemum Broadway Lights

Penstemons are catching up and these can bring us some really vivid later summer splashes of colour.Quiet a variety of colours from red to white so easy to squeeze in the front line of a summer border. Garnet, Heavenly Blue, Hidcote Pink, King George V, Pensham Wedding Day are just some of the varieties we have. 

Penstemon Garnet

Agapanthus goes in lots of my pots because they appreciate my neglect. I like to come home to plants that look after themselves. These get a rich feed before they go to sleep late autumn and watering from the spring. I push them into the shelter of the house eves for the worst of winter but other than that I do neglect them, yet ever year they reward me with these tall flowers that always make me think of summer and the sea side! 

Vebena bodnariensis is summer itself. Tall clouds of purple make it probably the singular most popular perennial.

More on verbena

Coming Soon

In in this category I must direct you towards the asteraceae family.

 

Asters, rudbeckea, helleniums and Echinacea. These will give you the late summer wow factor. No garden can be without asters in particular. Add some late summer anemones and these should look stunning combined with your verbena purple clouds and colourful penstemons.