Photo by Holly Barnes

"In summer, the song sings itself." —William Carlos Williams

The garden is a riot of color in June and into July. As summer winds down in August and September we usually find our gardens looking washed out, tired, and definitely showing that they are past their prime. Deadheading roses and perennials, as well as annuals, throughout the summer delays the eventual floral decline.

The perennial gardens I planted in 2007 are lovely this year, but as I look around, I see that many plants will not still be blooming by late summer. Where shall I go to find out what plants to add to my palette, plants that will bloom in August and later? My personal gardening library is my favorite resource when I need to research a topic. I have also been known to do a little research at bookstores. With a personal gardening library of over 60 volumes, I don’t feel too guilty doing my research at the bookstore since I often end up buying.

Additionally, I usually “Google” gardening questions and find many good answers online. The websites offered are good starts for plant names to research. Once you have the names of some suggested plants, look them up in The Sunset Western Garden Book, a journal I’d never be without. It very specifically mentions bloom time for all plants in its encyclopedia.

In my library, I often refer to The Cottage Gardener’s Companion, a British book compiled by the Cottage Garden Society. I love this book because it deals only with cottage gardens, described as a style where “borders are crammed with an informal jostle of herbs and flowers, paths lined with scented pinks and primroses, lavender bushes by the garden gate and roses round the door. . .” The Companion mentions when a summer plant blooms only in the early part of the season. Penelope Hobhouse, a well-known English garden writer and lecturer, notes in her book, Flower Gardens, whether a plant blooms in early, mid, or late summer.

The rose and clematis families claim hybrids that will bloom throughout the summer and on into fall. The late summer blooming clematis are Viticella hybrids. Late blooming roses are generally those that have been blooming off and on all summer and they include Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, some of the English Roses, and Climbing Roses. This information was gleaned from my copy of The Rose and the Clematis by John Howells.

A really great way to find out what is blooming in August is to visit your local nurseries right in the middle of the month and see what they have.

I think all of these methods will work for researching any of the gardening questions you might have.

In the August Garden:

·        Deadhead roses and perennials to encourage continued flowering.

·        Make a final feeding of perennials and shrubs to harden them off for winter.

·        Keep compost piles wet.

·        Plant lettuce starts for the last crop.

·        Enjoy warm summer evenings in the garden whether it is your own or one of the Palouse country’s many beautiful parks.