Adding Mid and Late Summer Colour to a Border
Rudbeckia ‘Little Goldstar’
Achillea millefolium ‘Lachsschonheit’
If a border is beginning to look a little green and flat by mid-summer, one of the easiest ways to improve it is by introducing a mixture of long-flowering herbaceous perennials combined with a few structural shrubs. The plants below work particularly well together because they overlap in flowering time and provide a mix of warm yellows, reds, pinks, blues, and purple shades from July through into autumn.
The overall effect is a softer naturalistic planting style, with the Achilleas weaving through the border earlier in the season, followed by stronger late summer colour from the Rudbeckias and Penstemons.
Recommended Plants
Rudbeckia ‘Little Goldstar’
A compact perennial producing masses of golden-yellow daisy flowers from mid-summer into autumn. Excellent for creating strong late-season colour and particularly effective planted in groups through the middle of the border.
Penstemon ‘Rich Ruby’
Produces rich ruby-red tubular flowers over a long flowering period. Useful for adding vertical colour and works well mixed amongst softer pinks and yellows.
Achillea millefolium ‘Lachsschonheit’
Soft salmon-pink flower heads above finely cut foliage. Very good for adding softer meadow-like colour through mid and late summer.
Achillea millefolium ‘Lilac Beauty’
A gentler lilac-pink Achillea that combines well with blues and purples and helps soften stronger flower colours within the border.
Achillea millefolium ‘Paprika’
One of the warmer coloured Achilleas, opening rich red and gradually fading through orange and peach shades as the flowers mature.
Caryopteris ‘Dark Knight’
A small deciduous shrub producing deep violet-blue flowers in late summer. Particularly useful for pollinators and valuable because it flowers when many earlier summer plants are fading.
Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’
This is more of a wall, trellis, or fence plant rather than a traditional border perennial. It produces clusters of blue-purple flowers over a long period through summer and early autumn and is ideal for softening fencing or growing through supports at the back of the border. It would require wires, trellis, or another support structure to climb over.