Keeping the display going

As August approaches the garden can easily ebb away with its vibrancy. For many, the main summer display is over and people generally neglect their outdoor space whilst the summer holidays are upon them. Worst still, the garden just goes on a steady decline over the coming weeks and months once family normality returns.

This can be avoided with a careful choice of plants that take over the show and provide you with many weeks of high octane flowers.

Hydrangeas are great shrubs for this time of year and cover a wide colour palette.  Bottom left is the ever so popular Hydrangea 'Annabelle' with its huge lemon-white buns. Then, taking centre stage in the middle is my favourite helenium. H. 'Sahins early flowerer' which provides streaked orange petals which last from June to October. Not bad eh! Behind (although slightly clashing) is a phlox (sadly culitvar not known). To the right the annual Centaurea cyanus 'blue boy' and to finish off, a loose curving thread (from front to back) of Cosmos 'Sonata Pink' grown from seed which will last until the first frosts.

A sprinkling of seed

It wasn't until the middle of April I decided to get a packet of annual seed mix to give a particularly difficult area of border some added oomph.  It was alongside the road and previous plantings really suffered due to both the shallow soil and little rain from above because of the shelter from the overhanging eaves.

In a matter of about 12 weeks the flowers are really strutting their stuff and looking lovely.  Next year I feel I might do more selected areas for a quick and relatively cheap display.  In fairness, the display is short lived but for a few brief weeks I feel it's worth it...don't you?