5 Perennial Plants for late colour in the garden – Part 1

I’m really pleased this year with the amount of late colour my perennial plants are still giving. I remember distinctly in the first garden I created, getting to August with just one plant still in flower and thinking, “where’s all the colour gone”?

I set about learning which plants gave late summer colour and started incorporated them into my borders.

When we arrived here and started to create a wildlife friendly garden from scratch, I was determined to have flowers for as much of the year as possible. This wasn’t just for my benefit but for the insects needing fuel, especially later in the year before going into winter.

I’m very pleased to say that we do have some flowers blooming nearly all year around. From snowdrops and Hellebores very early on, through to the perennials you are going to see today and the coming couple of weeks.

So lets start with the first perennial I ever grew.

Crocosmia

Crocosmia – common name Montbretia, is the first perennial plant that I ever grew. We had bought a house with an overgrown garden. This feels like an understatement as the weeds were four foot high. It all had to be stripped out, rotavated, and we had to start from scratch. I was given some orange Crocosmia and I loved it from the start.

I think it’s such a good all round plant, giving grass type leaves for most of the year, then in late summer the most vibrant, fiery orange flowers appear. Perfect for a hot border of reds and yellows or contrasted against pinks and blues.

It does have a reputation for spreading, but as the corns it grows from are shallow rooted, it is very easy to dig up. So if you plant it and find yourself in a few years with too much. Pass your clump on to a friend that hasn’t got any, it could start a love of gardening.

Hylotelephium

If you’re anything like me you’ll be thinking hylotelephium, I’ve never heard of that! It’s because a few years ago they had a name change, they were formerly known as sedum. Now you know what I’m talking about don’t you.

An invaluable plant in the border, with a big hit of pink in late summer going into autumn. Even in winter when their mini tree like forms have died they give fantastic structure to the border.

In early summer you see the little succulent rosettes emerging from the ground, they look like mini cabbages. They soon grow and look beautiful for weeks before the flowers open with their flat green tops.

At the end of August as they start to open they remind me of ice-cream, white, with the palest hint of pink and the bees immediately get stuck in!

Once they are fully opened in September the intensity of the pink is vibrant in the border and more insects flock to them, including butterflies.

Even in October they are still giving plenty of colour, now darkening to maroon, before fading to brown and back to looking like a group of mini trees.

Ligularia ‘Desdemona’

Not all Ligularias flower late, the other two varieties I grow, przewalskii ‘Golden Ray’ and ‘Rocket’ flower early in the year and are long gone by now, but ‘Desdemona’ likes a late entrance.

She’s a large perennial with wonderfully huge; dark red leaves, making an impact in the border long before her flowers appear in August. When they do they’re a deep, rich, orange-yellow colour which contrast fabulously with the dark foliage. The flowers are shaped like a daisy and so very easy for the pollinators to access, and they do in their droves.

Michaelmas Daisy

These gorgeous, daisy like flowers get their name because they are still in full bloom on 29th September, which is Michaelmas or the feast of St. Michael. Although, most start flowering in August and go on easily into October.

Most of us refer this flowering group as Michaelmas daisies or the equally well known name Asters, but in the 90’s the Michaelmas daisies were split into two groups.

Asters now refer to the group of flowers that originate in Europe and Asia, whilst the North American group are now called Symphyotrichum. Not such an easy name to get your tongue around!

The English word Aster, comes from the Latin word stēlla, which in turn comes from an Ancient Greek word for star, which is a perfect description of most daisy flowers.

I have one plant from this Aster group, it is Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’, it is a most beautiful shade of lilac, with a golden centre. It grows to around 70cm and forms a lovely clump. As with all open flowers it is loved by the nectar drinkers.

The word Symphyotrichum also comes from Ancient Greek, combining two words, súmphusis meaning ‘growing together’ and thríx meaning ‘hair’. Not quite as straight forward as star, but interesting.

I also have a plant from this North American group called Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Patricia Ballard’ Pat for short!

She’s a New Yorker with a strong upright habit growing to nearly a metre, more pink than mauve and with masses of semi-double flowers.

The flowers are open enough to let the insects in and the seed heads are great for birds. So all around great for the wildlife.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia otherwise known as ‘Black-eyed Susan’, like Michaelmas Daisies are from the large plant family called Asteraceae, which already has 32,000 known species, so lots of relatives!

I just have a meagre three types. The one I first grew from seed years ago is ‘Goldstrum’, she is extremely hardy and spreads well.

I now have her golden yellow flowers, with dark brown centres, all around the garden. All derived from the first plant I grew, very good value!

The next is super tall Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’, growing to nearly two metres tall, she is a super model of a plant. She also has yellow flowers but a cooler shade, with a very conical green centre.

When her petals have fallen and the centre cone has browned off and elongated into a point, it is worth leaving in the border and looks fabulous with a sprinkling of frost.

Finally ‘Prairie Glow’ with stripy, burnt orange, flowers with yellow tips. Growing to one and a half metres, makes a striking plant, that’s hot, hot, hot!