Heading into August, we can all agree that these summer months have been hot, humid and hazy!!! The dog days are definitely NOT over, we’re in the thick of them!
This August, Our Gardens Are Ready
It’s the time of year where the pace slows a bit, cooler places are sought out and the gardening tasks are placed on low priority.
For months we’ve been planning, weeding, planting, fertilizing, mulching, watering, battling fungus, fighting insects, deadheading, and basically fussing about our yards to get things in tip top shape before our summer company arrives!
And despite some minor setbacks, we’ve watched our gardens grow and transform into beautiful areas of peace and tranquility. Are we finally done? Is it time to put up your umbrella, prepare a pitcher of mint julep, and enjoy your backyard reprieve? Ahhh…
Now Picture This
Suddenly Peter, Paul and Mary come on singing “Where have all the flowers gone?”. That’s when you look up and realize your well planned out garden has lost all of its early season color. What good is your garden without the color that inspired your layout in the first place?
August tends to be a time of flowering transformation in the garden world. Perhaps you’re seeing it in your own landscape? Those spring bloomers are long done and the early summer, flowers begin fading and start to lose their captivating beauty.
This has always been a time of year where our own gardens begin to fall short of color and begin to loose all interest.
But there’s a new class of flowering plants popping up that have been waiting for these dog days of summer. These plants thrive on long hours of sunlight and the heat of the season.
They’re the next phase of flowering plants after August that can restore new life and colorful interest to your yard!
Perennials:
Agastache (hummingbird mint), Asclepias (milkweed,butterfly weed), Clematis (sweet summer love), Crocosmia, Dahlias, Echinacea (coneflowers), Eupatorium (joe pye weed), Gaillardia (blanket flower), Gaura (wandflower), Hibiscus (rose mallow), Lavender, Leucanthemum (shasta daisy), Lilium (asiatic and oriental lily), Lobelia (cardinal flower), Nipponanthemum (montauk daisy), Perovskia (russian sage), Phlox (tall garden varieties), Physostegia (obedient plant), Platycodon ( balloon flower), Rudbeckia (black and brown eyed susan), Solidago (goldenrod) and Stokesia (stokes aster).
Shrubs:
Abelia (glossy abelia), Buddleja (butterfly bush), Caryopteris (bluebeard), Clethra (summersweet), Hibiscus (rose of Sharon), Hydrangea (tree forms), Hypericum (St. John’s wort), Lagerstroemia (crape myrtle), Roses (knock outs and hybrid teas) and Vitex (chaste tree).
Read about these shrubs and more here: https://agwaycapecod.com/the-showgarden-shrubs/
The moral of the story? Don’t give up on your gardens yet! There’s still plenty of new and blooming plants available. These plants will continue to carry the color palette well through the remaining season. Visit us at Agway of Cape Cod for inspiration!