I also struggle with this. Tried: Dahlias - they got eaten by slugs/snails, asters - disappeared, echinacea - doesn't do well for me, not enough flowers, rudbeckias and helenium and many others - warm-coloured and I need cool tones, gaura - too untidy and floppy. I have japanese anemones but I wouldn't want them in my main beds. Phlox is nice but will be over soon. I want to try sedums but I don't like their look and they don't really fit with my other plants, I think.
I usually go with metre+ cosmos which flower from about now till the frosts for this (though I'm not doing them this year). They are planted in manured beds, so grow into trees for the season, type thing. Bright pink cosmos trees look stunning and lift the spirits through November
Those and dahlias are what I choose to fill my garden with colour from now to the frosts. I like perennial sunflowers but the slugs hammer them and can't return the following year. My thals have gone on for months. Joe Pye is just starting. Hollyhocks are going strong.
I have salvia but the caradonna have been mutilated beyond belief by slugs and snails. The Blue by You is a triumph so I may get another of those next year.
My local GC don’t have any chrysanthemum which is odd. I must ask them why when I go.
Dahlias May end up the same as the salvia as I seem to be the local slug restaurant of choice.
I don’t think the autumnal type weather over the last two weeks has helped with the appearance of things. Many of my longer flowering plants have already given up but last year we’re still going strong through to the end of September.
I’ll see what I can pick up today when I go exploring.
crocosmia if you want a bright splash. My C. Fugue is just hitting it's stride (this pic isn't mine - it's from a nursery site on the web). I have buddleia 'black knight' behind it. I used to have some echincea 'white swan' with it too, but the bunnies ate them one year, so now it's growing with euphorbia 'fire glow' and a dark purple penstemon.
It flowers for a few weeks now and then the seed heads are attractive later
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
My echinops are looking great at the moment and although they won't be flowering for long, I've already had the developing flower heads for a couple of months and they fade gracefully into winter.
Hardy fuchsia are another good long flowering plant.
There are hardy geraniums that flower all summer to the first sign of frost. Some get a bit wild but others are well behaved. Anne thompson and Ann folkard are two easily available examples.
Another vote for Penstemon - I have lots of different coloured ones and they have been flowering for weeks already and will continue to do so if dead-headed. Hydrangeas are also looking at their best now and will keep their colour for months
You could also add some grasses if you like them. They work especially well with the Heleniums, Rudbeckias, Crocosmias etc already mentioned.
Lychnis coronaria also flowers well into early autumn too. Apologies if that's already been mentioned. They do seed around rather promiscuously though, so you have to watch them.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Quite a few hardy geraniums will give later colour if they're cut hard back mid summer.
Ones which don't HAVE to be cut back but (IMO) look better for a haircut include Rozanne, Anne Folkard, Anne Thompson and (my least favourite geranium) Wargrave Pink will all (if left alone) flower sporadically for the whole season - but they also all get very straggly and untidy.
Even though they are still in flower I cut them all hard back at the beginning to middle of July, give them a good watering and, within 2 weeks, they've produced fresh green leaves and 2 -3 weeks later they have flower buds. They can then be left to do their thing until well into autumn.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
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I have salvia but the caradonna have been mutilated beyond belief by slugs and snails. The Blue by You is a triumph so I may get another of those next year.
It flowers for a few weeks now and then the seed heads are attractive later
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Hardy fuchsia are another good long flowering plant.
There are hardy geraniums that flower all summer to the first sign of frost. Some get a bit wild but others are well behaved. Anne thompson and Ann folkard are two easily available examples.
Lychnis coronaria also flowers well into early autumn too. Apologies if that's already been mentioned. They do seed around rather promiscuously though, so you have to watch them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Ones which don't HAVE to be cut back but (IMO) look better for a haircut include Rozanne, Anne Folkard, Anne Thompson and (my least favourite geranium) Wargrave Pink will all (if left alone) flower sporadically for the whole season - but they also all get very straggly and untidy.
Even though they are still in flower I cut them all hard back at the beginning to middle of July, give them a good watering and, within 2 weeks, they've produced fresh green leaves and 2 -3 weeks later they have flower buds. They can then be left to do their thing until well into autumn.