Here are the summer flowering plants that can outperform some of the newest and hottest introductions.
Photo by: Doreen Wynja.
1. SNEEZEWEED (Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’)
This perfectly named cultivar does just as it implies: it adds a party to the garden. It produces a profusion of 2-inch flowers from August to early October, with bright orange petals splashed with yellow. This long-blooming, hot-colored perennial will liven up the dog days of summer. I often use it as an accent to drifts of purple-blue flowers like Agastache ?Blue Fortune? (giant hyssop), and the fine texture of a bluegreen grass like Schizachyrium scoparium ?The Blues? (little bluestem).
Bloom: Yellow/Red rays (August-October) | Height/Spread: 24-36?/12-18? | Zones: 4-9
Photo by: Marianne Majerus.
2. FIRETAIL FLEECE (Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’)
For a pop of hot color that starts in June and lasts until the first frost, look no further than Persicaria ?Firetail?. While not aggressive, this sturdy perennial likes a bit of room and will drift and weave amongst a border planting. The bottle brushlike crimson flowers swaying above clumps of dark green lanceolate foliage add a textural dimension to a pond?s edge or in a prairie-style planting like those of Piet Oudolf. It pairs wonderfully with contrasting shaped flowers like Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), Ratibida pinnata (gray-head coneflower), or a finely textured grass like Muhlenbergia capillaris (pink muhly).
Bloom: Crimson (June-October) | Height/Spread: 36-48?/36-48? | Zones: 4-8
Photo by: Marianne Majerus.
3. RUSTY FOXGLOVE (Digitalis ferruginea)
This elegant foxglove, redolent with tall, golden spires of tubular flowers, is often used as a free-seeding biennial in prairie style gardens. It makes a big statement in the early summer by gracefully towering over its neighbors. I love pairing it with the native Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), Amsonia tabernaemontana (bluestar), and Iris sibirica (Siberian iris). An added bonus: the rusty foxglove is as beautiful in a vase as it is in the garden. It performs best in a partly sunny location in soil that does not go bone dry.
Bloom: Creamy yellow (May-June) | Height/Spread: 36-54?/12-18? | Zones: 4-10
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