I’ve decided to write a blog exploring plants for September colour as it struck me that at this time of year many of us might feel our garden has lost its ‘oomph.’
That’s fair enough, everything has its day, and as autumn looms, many plants which were fresh and full of promise, have inevitably passed their best.
In light of this, I’ve been looking at ways to extend the flowering season, or to inject additional colour at this time of year, and thought I’d share a few of my ideas.
Plants for September Colour – #1 Salvias
I’m a real Salvia fan. I love their variety of colours – from baby blues to hot reds, yellows, regal purples and everything in between. But a key reason I like them so much is that they provide end of season colour.
I’ve red hot Salvias Royal Bumble and Splendens Van-Houttei still going strong against my ivy covered shed. The Royal Bumble’s flower head is small and dainty, but the Van-Houttei is a voluptuous beauty. A bit like a fat red prawn! I also have Saliva Wendy’s Wish with it’s glorious magenta flowers blooming at the bottom of the garden against (yet another) shed! Ah Mr F-W does love a shed!!
Salvias can be slightly tender in some settings. Some people put them in greenhouses over winter. I don’t do that (I don’t have a greenhouse for one thing!) However, as an insurance policy, I do take cuttings of my favourites – you can see how to do it here. I do this every year, at about this time.
#2 Heucheras
I love heucheras. Again they offer lots of choice in terms of their colour and form. However, the big bonus is that they are real ‘doers’ performing right through the summer. Indeed my heucheras look as good now as they did in April or May! That’s why they go in my list of great plants for September colour. I’ve heuchera root beer in a pot. Check out how incredible it looks! If pots are not for you, then put them in borders, I think this variety, with its rich terracotta leaves and fat creamy flowers would provide phenonemal contrast planted in a mixed border.
#3 Clematis
There are plenty of later flowering clematis, making them great plants for September colour. I mostly have mine in pots, but you could have them climbing through other plants in a border or, depending on the variety, tumbling over walls.
Thorncroft Clematis – the clematis company I buy from – has over 290 – yes that’s right, 290 – clematis which flower in September. Mine, which are still in good flower, include mauve varieties Bernadine and Zara (which has lovely slightly wavy petals). Darcey, is also looking great. She has dusky pink flowers; these have a stronger raspberry-coloured stripe down the middle.
Clematis Kitty is also in bloom in September, she has creamy white flowers and pink stamens rising from a slightly limey green base. To my eye she is absolutely exquisite. I’m not meant to have favourites as I feel the plants will sense it, but she’s probably my favourite clematis!
Clematis for beyond September!
My clematis give me the best of both worlds – early summer flowers that continue right through into September. However, there are clematis that go one step further like the deep purple Clematis ‘Elsa Späth’ which flowers from May to July and then in September and October. I don’t have her in my garden so to see her click on the link above. She is gorgeous. Or velvety red Clematis ‘Allanah’ which doesn’t start flowering until August but will keep going into November! There are December performers too. In essence, with the right mix of clematis you can have a display that keeps going for months and months.
#4 Phlox
Phlox are another great group of plants for September colour. They’re easy to look after, they just need soil and sun, and they smell wonderful. It’s not surprising bees and butterflies love them.
I have a tall, white variety, Phlox Paniculata Mount Fuji. This phlox doesn’t start flowering until August but powers on through with blooms through a litte of October if I’m lucky. So is well worth waiting for.
There are others that flower earlier (in July) and of course there are lots of colours to choose from – pale and dark pinks to salmony orange, maroons and purples.
So whatever your colour scheme, a phlox will keep the interest going in September for you. But do plant them in a decent clump. Dotting them around looks dreadful. You need a flock or phlox!
#5 Japanese Anenome
What a brilliant later summer flower this is. This was reinforced for me when I walked past two of my neighbours’ gardens – Ginny and Doreen.
The wall between their properties is a riot of wonderful Japanese Anenomes. In terms of plants for September colour, they’re hard to beat, though the colour range is limited to the white, pink and mauve side of life. There’s one called September Charm this is a lovely soft pink variety. For a hotter pink go for Anemone hupehensis ‘Hadspen Abundance’.
#6 Sedum
My Sedum is really coming into its own at the moment. For most of the summer it has waited patiently. It has played a handsome second fiddle to lots of showier plants around it in my borders such as the Liatris Spicata. But now it’s September, the liatris has faded and the Sedum is strutting its stuff. Covered with bees, it really is a fantastic wildlife friendly plant which earns its place in a border.
#7 Helenium
For some hot-coloured September zing, Heleniums are hard to beat. They come in reds, yellows, ochres and oranges and look wonderful planted in drifts through a bed.
I also think they look good with grasses; I’ve a pot of a short variety called ‘short and sassy’ in my hot corner, planted up with a grass and some ivy.
Plants for September colour – on the cheap! # 8 Pansies and Violas
If budgets are tight and your can’t afford to splash out of a flock of phlox, a swathe of sedum or a host of heuchera or helenium (I’ll stop the alliteration now), then don’t panic. Noticing that my hot corner was decidedly cooling off in places, I’ve planted up a few orange and yellow violas and pansies in an old terracotta bowl and perched it on a wall. I bought the plants for about £2 but they’ve added some priceless September warmth to the whole area.
Doesn’t end there…
There are many other plants I could have included in this list. I’ve roses, echinaceas, scabious and astrantia all still going strong in September. The verbena bonariensis is still lovely (and is so cheap and easy to grow) as is my penstemmon which I grew from a cutting. So don’t despair, there are lots of ways to keep your borders blooming lovely.