What would fall be without chrysanthemums? As traditional garden favorites, mums (Chrysanthemum spp.) offer a welcome burst of rich color in autumn, when many other flowering annuals and perennials have faded for the year. From fiery bronzes and golds to lush purples and crisp whites, mums are celebrated globally as symbols of joy, optimism, and longevity.

While growing mums is pretty straightforward, keeping these fall beauties blooming for longer and ensuring their long-term survival requires more effort. Mums fall into two categories: hardy garden mums (C. × morifolium) which can survive winter outdoors in zones 4-9, and florist mums which are grown as temporary decorative annuals. Regardless of which variety adorn your porch or backyard beds, October care determines whether your plants fade fast or stay vibrant into late autumn.

Fortunately, mums are tough, resilient plants. With a few simple steps this month, you can nearly double the time your mums light up the fall garden. Following these 5 essential October tasks ensures a spectacular seasonal finale, while safeguarding your plants for a triumphant return next spring. Here’s how to keep these happy flowers blooming for as long as possible both this year and the next…

Best Mum Care in October

It’s important to know what you can and can’t do for chrysanthemums this month. Depending on your USDA hardiness zone and local weather, different mum varieties sit at varying stages of growth mid-autumn. Early-blooming cushion mums may already be finishing their first flower flush, while late-blooming heirloom varieties like Hillside Sheffield Pink or Clara Curtis are just starting to open their daisy-like blooms.

Managing in-ground plantings and container mums requires a clear understanding of what not to do in October. While it is tempting to plant potted nursery mums into garden beds during autumn sales, October is too late in most northern regions for roots to establish before the ground freezes. Unless you live in a mild southern climate where the first hard freeze is at least 6 weeks away, keep any late-purchased potted mums in their containers rather than risking root death in frozen soil.

Similarly, October is not the time to divide mum clumps: doing this now would be the equivalent of a death sentence. Splitting root crowns in autumn would disrupt the plant's winter survival mechanisms. This month, put a note on the refrigerator to divide mums in early spring when green shoots appear. Dividing in spring every few years helps to keep clumps healthy and vigorous. As for what you can do to help your mums now, these tasks below are really easy to do and won’t take long at all.

Keep an eye on flower and stem quality, water management, container essentials, and crown insulation. If you need to check soil condition before carrying out these tasks, grab a soil meter. The Raintrip 4-in-1 Soil Meter from Amazon is perfect for getting a solid read on soil quality. Then try these easy mum secrets to guarantee a gorgeous flowering display that lasts longer and comes back even stronger.

1. Keep Deadheading

Deadheading is often viewed as a way to encourage fresh flower buds. But that’s not the only reason for deadheading mums. While snipping off spent blooms now may not force a new flush of blooms, it stops the plant from expending energy on seed production. By regularly snapping or snipping off brown, wilting flower heads just above the nearest leaf junction, you force the plant to redirect all its energy downward into root growth and crown development.

Building a robust root system now is key to helping garden mums survive winter freezes and break dormancy in spring. Make deadheading a quick weekly routine for the next few weeks. Pinch off faded blooms with your fingers. Alternatively, remove them with snips or spring-action blades like Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips, available from Amazon which are great for clean cuts that won’t tug or damage stems. Keeping spent flowers removed also improves airflow around remaining buds and prevents gray mold (botrytis) from taking hold in damp fall rain.

2. Don’t Stop Watering

Consistent moisture is essential for keeping mums hydrated and blooming through October. While fall weather brings cooler temperatures and frequent rain, seasonal rainfall may not be sufficient to meet the needs of dense, heavily budded mums, especially container-grown specimens. Container mums have tightly packed roots that dry out rapidly in fall. Check potted soil daily by inserting a finger an inch (2.5cm) into the pot. If it feels dry, water thoroughly until fluid runs from the drainage holes. For ground-planted mums, check soil moisture every couple of days.

Your job as a mum mom is to check frequently. When watering, direct it to the base of the plant rather than overhead. Keeping foliage and open petals dry prevents fungal pathogens like powdery mildew, rust, and leaf spot from ruining your fall display. Every couple of weeks, add a diluted seaweed or kelp drench. GS Plant Foods Organic Liquid Kelp, available from Walmart, adds a light mineral boost to help stressed mums maintain vibrant flower color for longer. Once the soil freezes solid, stop watering in-ground plants.

3. Don’t Cut Everything Back

October is not the time to do a hard pruning of your mums. You should snip off any diseased or rotting foliage. Cut off yellow foliage and leaves close to the base of the plant that are likely to harbor fungal diseases. If you need a comfortable set, Corona Dual Link ComfortGel Bypass Pruners from Lowe’s are excellent value and highly efficient. However, leave the main stems intact. Performing a hard prune in fall is one of the most common reasons garden mums fail to return in spring.

Allow the woody stems to stand uncut through the fall and even the winter. These stems trap snow that helps to insulate the roots and protect the crown. Furthermore, standing stems provide valuable winter habitat for beneficial garden insects. Wait until early spring, when green shoots peek through the soil, to cut the old, woody stems back to ground level.

4. Protect Container Mums

In-ground garden mums planted in the ground can survive much colder weather than container mums. Potted mums, however, face a bit more of a challenge. Soil in above-ground pots can freeze solid quickly, subjecting pots to freeze-thaw cycles. If you want your potted mums to survive winter, protect them before hard freezes arrive. In mild regions (zones 7-9), move your containers to a sheltered spot against a warm, south-facing house wall and wrap the pots in burlap or bubble wrap.

In colder northern regions (zones 3-6), transition dormant potted mums into an unheated garage or shed once night temperatures drop consistently below freezing. Use the excellent Bloem 12-Inch Heavy Duty Terracotta Plant Caddies, available from Walmart, to move heavier mum containers for overwintering. Their caster wheels make light work of moving heavy pots. The goal is to keep the soil cold and dormant (around 32-40°F / 0-4°C) without exposing roots to sub-zero winds. Water your stored pots lightly once a month to prevent roots from drying out completely.

5. Mulch After a Hard Freeze

Applying a protective blanket of mulch over garden mums is an essential fall task, but timing is everything. Applying mulch too early in October, while soil is still warm, can trap heat and moisture against the crown of the plant, encouraging fungal rot and encouraging pests to nest. Wait until after the first hard freeze has killed off top growth and the ground begins to cool significantly before adding your mulch.

Spread a 2-4-inch (5-10cm) layer of loose, airy organic material (such as clean straw, evergreen boughs, or pine needles) around the base of each plant. You can also use an organic wood mulch. Our team loves Back to the Roots Organic Premium Wood Mulch, available from Amazon for a dye-free bark mulch that insulates crowns against freeze-thaw cycles and helps prevent frost heave. Loose materials insulate the crown without packing down into a heavy, waterlogged mat. Just don’t use heavy packed leaves which can suffocate the plant.

Taking a little time to care for your mums this month pays massive dividends now and next year. By maintaining consistent moisture, deadheading spent blooms, leaving main stems intact, and applying a protective layer of mulch after the first hard frost, you maintain strong, healthy plants for seasons to come. Give your mums the attention they deserve this month, and enjoy their lush blooms year after year.

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There’s something about fall that naturally inspires new beginnings and makes us want to head off in new directions. With the arrival of brisk breezes, shifting colors and falling leaves, we often feel the urge to rearrange living spaces, including those outdoors. While spring gets most of the glory for planting, autumn is a great season for dividing, moving and relocating key established ornamentals.

If you do transplant these perennials and shrubs now, you can take advantage of unique conditions. Fall brings cool air that reduces transpiration and moisture stress, while the soil remains warm from months of sun, and depending on where you live, you’ll be seeing more rainfall. This means relocated plants have time to establish strong roots before winter sets in, and it reduces transplant shock.

Rather than wasting energy recovering from a disruptive spring move, a fall-transplanted perennial can hit the ground running early next year. This doesn’t apply to every single plant, but if you have overcrowded perennials, let’s go! By giving key plants a fresh start this October, you boost their long-term health, enhance your curb appeal, and set your yard up for its finest season yet.

Why Fall is the Best Time to Move

In my experience, it’s pretty rare to add a perennial or shrub and simply leave it in place untouched for the next decade. As landscapes mature, light patterns shift, beds crowd each other out, and soil nutrients may deplete. I plant perennials knowing that it’s very likely my hostas or peonies will, in time, need to be relocated. But that doesn’t bother me at all. It’s like kids outgrowing their shoes: relocating is a natural, normal part of growth and healthy backyard care.

Fall is considered the best season for transplanting. We have touched on changes in weather, and this generally means transplants won’t burn or dry out quickly. During spring, plants funnel energy into expanding leaves, shoots, and flower buds. If you dig up a plant in spring, you sever its feeder roots when energy demands are peak. In fall, though, top growth declines or enters dormancy, allowing the plant to redirect energy into root growth and cellular repair, which is exactly what transplants need.

While the air is cooler, the soil is still warm from summer sun. Depending on your USDA hardiness zone, this is ideal for the root growth. Plants transplanted in fall have a strong root network by spring. Also, it may not rain every day, but autumn brings more rain than summer. Plants prefer rainwater to tap water, and regular moisture favors root development. You can check ground levels before transplanting by using a diagnostic tool like the Raintrip 4-in-1 Soil Meter, available from Amazon.

Insect populations peak in summer and decline in fall, which means that your plants won’t have to be fighting aphids, mites or root-chewing grubs. This means newly moved plants won't have to battle active pest pressure while establishing in the vulnerable time after transplanting. Before moving these plants, just be sure to prepare the new site. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and enrich the backfill with rich compost or worm castings to ensure smooth, stress-free root expansion of the following plants…

Plants to Move in October

Fall transplanting isn't ideal for every plant. Keep your garden gloves off tender perennials such as dahlias, gladioli, and tropical hibiscus. You should also avoid plants with deep taproots, like false indigo or butterfly weed, and broadleaf evergreens such as boxwoods, rhododendrons, and gardenias. Broadleaf evergreens retain leaves all winter and can dry out if their roots are disturbed now. However, these 6 stars are receptive to an October move. Many can be divided at the same time, giving you free extra plants to spread around borders or share with friends.

1. Hostas

Hostas are amongst the easiest and most forgiving perennials to transplant or divide this month. Move them in fall, 4-6 weeks before your region's first hard ground freeze. This takes advantage of warm soil, while cool air prevents large leaves from scorching. A major benefit of an October move is visual. Top growth is often visible before heavy frosts flatten the leaves, helping you to position the plant exactly where you want it. Hostas work well in dappled shade, alongside ferns or coral bells.

Prepare the new site first by adding some organic leaf mold or compost into the soil. Use a sharp spade or fork to dig a ring around the outer drip line. Lift the root ball out gently. If the crown is overcrowded, slice it into smaller divisions using a sharp knife, ensuring each piece retains fleshy roots and a few eye buds. Replant at the original depth, water deeply, and apply a 2-inch (5cm) layer of organic mulch. If you need a good knife, try the versatile Fiskars Hori Hori Knife, available from Walmart. Its serrated edge is ideal for slicing through thick divisions with minimal damage.

2. Peonies

Whether you are growing classic herbaceous peonies like Sarah Bernhardt or sturdy Itoh intersectional hybrids, this month is a great time for transplanting and division. Peonies (Paeonia spp.) dislike being moved during active spring growth, but in autumn they are entering dormancy. Moving them now gives roots time to anchor into the soil before it freezes, without the stress of supporting top foliage.

Once the foliage turns bronze or wilts after early frosts, cut the stems back to roughly 2 inches (5cm) above the ground. Carefully dig around the root mass, lifting the plant without snapping the thick roots. Rinse off any excess soil to expose the pink eyes (these are the dormant buds). If dividing, use a clean knife to create sections with at least 3-5 strong eyes and a generous root.

Replant in a sunny, well-draining spot, making sure the eyes sit no deeper than 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm) below the surface. Give your peonies a gentle, slow-release phosphorus and calcium boost by adding a handful of Down To Earth Fish Bone Meal from Lowe’s.

3. Bearded Irises

If you live in a mild or moderate climate, then you can relocate crowded bearded iris (Iris germanica) this month, provided you get them settled at least 4 weeks before severe freezes so roots have time to establish. Transplanting allows you to relocate bearded iris plants to sunnier garden spots and eliminate iris borer eggs or leaf spot fungal spores that can hide in old foliage over winter.

Dig up the plant using a garden fork, shaking away loose soil. Slice or snap the healthy outer rhizomes from the central mass, throwing away the central rhizome. Inspect each piece for soft spots or borer holes, discarding damaged sections. Trim the leaves back into an inverted V shape 4-6 inches (10-15cm) tall to reduce wind rock and stress. Replant in full sun, settling the roots over a small soil mound in the planting hole. Make sure the tops of the rhizomes are slightly above the soil surface.

Add a light mulch, such as team favorite Back to the Roots Organic Premium Wood Mulch from Amazon, to reduce the risk of frost-heave. However, it’s not a good idea to divide plants at this time. Wait until late summer, after the flowers fade.

4. Daylilies

Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) are legendary for their resilient nature, and in moderate climates (zones 4-9) you can transplant and divide them during October. Just make sure you do this 4 weeks before the first hard frost. Over time, daylily clumps get so densely packed that flower production can drop off. Moving and dividing every 3-5 years restores vigor, resulting in larger flower scapes and a longer bloom season.

Before digging up your daylily, trim the foliage back by half to make it easier to manage. Insert your spade beneath the root ball and lever the plant out. Pull the thick, fleshy roots apart by hand or use two back-to-back pitchforks to pry the clump into divisions. Prepare your new planting hole by adding a handful of earthworm castings, such as Earth Science Earthworm Castings from Amazon. Drape the roots over the mound. Position the plant so the crown sits an inch (2.5cm) below the surface. Backfill, press firmly, water well and mulch.

5. Hydrangeas

Moving a large hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.) in midsummer can lead to severe wilt and leaf scorching. However, moving one in late October is fine, as long as your shrub has stopped flowering or entered dormancy. Whether you are relocating a bigleaf (H. macrophylla), panicle (H. paniculata), or oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia), transplanting your hydrangea this month gives the extensive root system time to settle into cool, moist soil before pushing out heavy spring leaves.

Select a new location that offers morning sun and afternoon shade, and water the hydrangea deeply 24 hours before moving. Hydrangeas have broad roots that grow wide rather than deep, so dig a wide trench around the outer branch perimeter. Lift the root ball with as much soil as possible. Transfer to the new hole at its original growing depth, backfill with native soil and organic compost, and tamp. Apply a gentle, diluted seaweed drench, such as GS Plant Foods Organic Liquid Kelp from Walmart, to minimize shock after transplanting your hydrangea. Insulate the base with 3 inches (8cm) of organic wood mulch to retain moisture through winter.

6. Roses

Roses (Rosa spp.) respond well to a late October move, provided the shrub has begun entering semi-dormancy following its final bloom flush. Relocating a rose in fall allows cut root ends to callus over and sprout fine feeder roots in warm soil, giving the plant a massive jumpstart over bare-root roses planted in spring.

Prepare the new planting hole in a bright, sunny spot that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily. Blend in some well-rotted compost, or optionally condition the soil with a little Wakefield Biochar Premium Soil Conditioner, available from Lowe’s. This enhances aeration and water retention around deep rose roots. Make sure you water your rose bush the day before digging. Prune top growth back by a third to a half. This makes canes easier to handle and balances top weight with root loss.

Using a spade, dig a deep circle around the root ball, angling the blade inward to preserve the main taproot and roots. Lift the rose and transfer to the new site. Make sure the graft union (the bump at the base of the stems) sits 2 inches (5cm) below the soil in colder regions for winter protection. Backfill, press firmly, and water deeply.

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Hostas (Hosta spp.) are beloved backyard staples. Celebrated for their lush foliage, incredible leaf variety and excellent shade tolerance, these reliable perennials make a big impact from spring through late summer into fall. However, as October rolls in, with shorter daylight hours and potentially the season's first frosts, these blue-green leaves beauties begin to yellow, collapse, and prepare for dormancy.

While it might be tempting to view fall as a time to step back, this is a pivotal month for hosta care. Proper fall maintenance goes far beyond basic backyard tidiness and cleaning up your beds. The right interventions now can protect plant crowns, prevent overwintering pests, and reduce fungal spores. The right October care for hostas can be a vital investment in next spring’s finest plants.

Because hosta varieties vary widely, from massive Empress Wu to miniature Blue Mouse Ears, your plants may transition into dormancy at slightly different rates. But if you adjust the timings according to your hardiness zone and weather, these essential tasks will help you set the stage for an explosion of lush foliage next spring.

Best Hosta Care in October

October marks an important transition for your hostas. Above ground, the lush leaves stop photosynthesizing and begin transferring their stored starches down into the roots and crowns. This means lots of yellowing leaves, eventual foliage loss, and plant dormancy. Below ground, energy reserves fuel the development of dormant eyes (buds) that will push up as fresh leaves next April.

Understanding your local weather patterns and USDA hardiness zone is essential for timing the following tasks correctly. In colder northern climates (zones 3-5), heavy frosts often arrive by mid-month, signaling an earlier start to cutting back foliage and insulating crowns. In milder southern regions (zones 6-8), hostas may hold green leaves for a few more weeks, requiring a more gradual approach to fall cleanup.

Both in-ground hosta plantings and container-grown specimens require help before winter sets in. Taking time this month to check in with plant health, inspect leaf debris for pests, and prepare potted plants for freezing temperatures ensures every hosta in your yard enjoys a peaceful, protected dormancy. If you’re unsure about soil moisture, use the Raintrip 4-in-1 Soil Meter, available from Amazon, to get a heads-up about ground conditions before you start these tasks.

1. Reduce Watering and Stop Feeding

Your hostas are naturally preparing for a period of rest this month, so you don’t want to encourage growth right now. So stop applying nitrogen-rich fertilizers in early fall and help them rest. Feeding hostas in October encourages a sudden flush of soft leaf growth that cannot harden off before winter, wasting vital energy that the plant needs for dormancy and leaving the crown vulnerable to severe freeze damage. It’s not a bad idea to add a tiny sprinkle of a diluted seaweed tonic, such as GS Plant Foods Organic Liquid Kelp from Walmart, to help winterize roots, but that’s enough.

You also need to adjust and reduce hosta watering this month. While hostas needed consistent moisture in summer to keep their large leaves plump and turgid, autumn rainfall and cooler temperatures reduce soil evaporation. When you do want to water, check the top couple of inches (5cm) of soil first. If it feels damp, hold off. Only water during dry spells to keep roots from desiccating before the ground freezes. Once the topsoil freezes in late fall, stop watering completely until spring thaw.

2. Wait Until First Frost to Cut Back

There is some debate among gardeners as to whether or not you need to trim or prune hostas in fall, but if you do, timing matters. As long as you can see a leaf has some green or yellowish-green color, it is still working at converting light into energy and pumping those energy reserves down into the roots for next year’s growth. If you cut this process short by trimming back foliage prematurely, you risk starving the plant, resulting in smaller crowns and weaker leaf development next spring.

Even if they look raggedy, you need to wait until the leaves are clearly dead. For many, this happens after the first frosts of fall. At this point, you can use clean, sharp bypass pruners or grass shears to cut the leaf stems back to roughly 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm) above the ground. Make sure to wipe your pruners before and after use to reduce the risk of cross-contamination with a little isopropyl alcohol or some wipes, such as Clorox Disinfecting Wipes from Lowe’s.

Take care not to slice into the main crown or damage dormant eye buds sitting at the soil surface. Varieties with thick, corrugated leaves, like Frances Williams or Sieboldiana, may take longer to collapse than thin-leaved varieties, so be patient and adjust your cutting time accordingly.

3. Clean up Dead Leaves

A good fall cleanup is the best way to protect hostas from slugs and fungal disease. Fungal spores love to overwinter in decaying hosta foliage. When hosta leaves die back and collapse, this soggy blanket also creates the ultimate winter resort for slugs and snails. Slugs lay clusters of tiny eggs beneath the collapsed foliage, and these can hatch right when tender hosta shoots are emerging come spring.

Once the leaves have died, trim them back and pick up all the debris around the plants. Rake up all dead leaf material, spent flower stalks, and surrounding leaf litter. If the removed foliage was healthy, it can be composted. However, if you see leaf spots, crown decay, or pest damage, dispose in the trash to reduce the risk of spreading pathogens. For a gentle soil amendment, add a sprinkle of Down to Earth Crab Meal, from Amazon, which can help soil microbes break down pathogens.

4. Divide Big Hosta Clumps

October can be a good time for dividing overgrown hosta clumps, provided you live in a moderate or warm climate (zones 6-8). Dividing in fall means the separated sections have time to settle before winter hits (ideally, they need 4-6 weeks before the first hard freeze). However, if you are in northern regions (zones 3-5) where the ground freezes solid by November, it’s best to postpone division until spring.

To divide a mature clump, wait until foliage begins to yellow. Carefully lift using a garden fork. Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the crown into sections, ensuring each division has a cluster of roots and 2-3 dormant eyes. If you need a good knife, try the versatile and highly rated Fiskars Hori Hori Knife, available from Walmart. Replant the divisions immediately at the same depth as the original plant, firming the soil and watering thoroughly. Hostas are long-lived perennials that only require division every 3-5 years when their centers become crowded or hollow.

5. Mulch and Add Markers

Applying a winter mulch over tidy beds protects delicate crowns from the dangers of frost heaving. Frost heaving occurs when freeze-thaw cycles cause the ground to lift shallow roots out of the ground, exposing vulnerable crowns to freezing air and drying winds. So mulch is a great protection. However, timing is everything: applying too early traps residual heat and moisture against the crown, encouraging fungal rot.

Wait until nighttime temperatures drop and the topsoil begins to freeze before applying a 2-3-inch (5-8cm) layer of loose organic mulch. Go for shredded bark, pine needles, or well-rotted leaf mold. Team favorite Back to the Roots Organic Premium Wood Mulch from Amazon is a dye-free bark mulch that insulates against freeze-thaw risks while preventing spring weeds. Just avoid piling mulch directly over the center of the crown. Keep it loosely brushed around the perimeter.

Trimming back foliage will mean that crowns become invisible beneath mulch. So drive some durable, weather-resistant garden markers into the soil directly beside each crown. Labeling prevents accidental spade damage when carrying out early spring digging and helps you track special cultivars like Patriot or June. It’s a good idea to take a picture of the ground with the markers, too, just in case.

6. Protect Container Hostas

Growing hostas in pots and urns is a fantastic way to brighten up shaded patios and porches. However, container-grown hostas face higher winter risks. Because potted soil lacks the insulating mass of earth, roots can get colder much faster and plants are more vulnerable during dormancy. Extreme temperature swings can crack pots and kill dormant crowns. So it’s a good idea to protect and overwinter potted hostas.

If you are in zones 3-6, extra winter protection is essential. Once foliage dies back and soil cools, move dormant pots into an unheated garage, garden shed, or cold frame where temperatures stay between 25°F and 40°F (-4°C to 4°C). You can use rolling plant caddies to move heavier pots, such as the Bloem 12-Inch Terracotta Caddy, available from Walmart, which has 75lb capacity.

Where indoor storage space isn't available, group pots tightly together against a warm house foundation. Wrap the exterior with bubble wrap or burlap, and top-dress with straw. Check potted soil once a month during winter, and apply a small splash of water if the soil becomes bone-dry, in order to prevent root desiccation.

These fall tasks are essential for keeping your hostas healthy, protecting crowns from freezing winter weather, and eliminating pest and disease harbors. Just one crisp October afternoon tidying up your shade beds will do wonders for protecting your plants over winter and ensuring they break dormancy with lush leaves next spring.

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Spending time in the backyard is high on most people’s priority list. Whether gardening or clearing, playing games, or just relaxing, most of us crave a sanctuary from all the pressures of life – without the worry of prying eyes. To help give that privacy, it helps to add evergreen hedges, screens, or specimen plants that naturally create a lush, living buffer between your space and the outside world.

Year-round foliage not only makes the yard feel more secluded, but it also reduces street noise, blocks unsightly views, and provides vital shelter and food for birds. By installing a green screen, you can soften property edges with ornamental value, especially if you use flowering or scented privacy ideas. For maximum sound dampening and visual screening, you can add layers, planting taller specimens in the background and medium shrubs and spreading groundcovers in front.

These privacy ideas can also incorporate vertical vines where space is restricted. Climbing vines cover trellises, fences, or arbors quickly, usually in as little as one season. Choosing evergreen species ensures your boundary stays lush even when deciduous favorites lose their leaves. Just be sure to select well-behaved varieties and avoid invasive runners like English ivy. The list below will hopefully inspire you to add vital layers of privacy in beautiful new ways.

Planting Privacy Plants in October

October is one of the best times for planting evergreen screens, shrubs, trees, and woody vines. While top growth slows down as air temperatures cool, the soil retains heat from summer. This combination encourages new plant roots to establish rapidly without the stress of hot late summer days. Roots settled now will continue growing until ground frost hits, giving your privacy plants a massive head start come spring.

When preparing your sites, focus on soil quality. Dig planting holes twice as wide as the nursery container to give roots room to expand. It’s also a good idea to mix organic compost or worm castings into the earth to improve moisture retention and soil structure. Try a handful of Earth Science Earthworm Castings from Amazon to enhance soil health in a gentle, organic way. For heavy clay or sandy soils, dehydrated organic amendments help to boost proper drainage, preventing root rot.

Give some thought to your USDA hardiness zone and local climate. Regional considerations are key with fall planting. In colder northern regions (zones 3-6), you need to finish planting by late October, so roots settle before deep ground freezes. However, southern gardeners (zones 7-10) can plant through November. Finish each fall planting with a 3-inch (8cm) layer of organic mulch to insulate roots against freeze-thaw cycles. Let’s meet our privacy screens, hedge plants, vines and shrubs.

1. Skyrocket Juniper

When you need rapid vertical privacy in tight spaces, Skyrocket juniper is a brilliant needle evergreen. Hardy in zones 3-9, this pencil-thin cultivar grows 15-20 feet (4.5-6m) tall, while maintaining a narrow spread of 2-3 feet (60-90cm). Its dense, silvery blue-green foliage holds its crisp color year-round, creating a formal living screen along property lines, narrow side yards, or patio borders without encroaching on lawn space. You can buy Skyrocket Juniper Trees from Nature Hills for fast-growing vertical screening in narrow spaces.

Skyrocket (Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket') thrives in full or partial sun, and adapts easily to lean, dry or sandy soils, if drainage is sharp. It’s very drought-tolerant once established, and requires virtually no pruning to maintain its spire-like shape. Plant it in a sunny spot, where it can receive at least 6hours of sunlight daily. Don't overwater or plant in poorly draining, soggy soil. Pair it with low-growing flowering shrubs or ornamental grasses for a stunning layered boundary.

2. Star Jasmine

If you’re after a fence or trellis screening that can fill the space with unforgettable fragrance, star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is an evergreen vine like no other. Hardy in zones 8-10 (and grown in sheltered courtyard containers in colder zones), this twining climber has glossy, dark green leaves that remain lush all year long. As a pretty bonus, in late spring and early summer, it erupts with hundreds of starry, pure-white flowers that can fill the yard with intoxicating scent.

This evergreen climber grows rapidly, reaching 18-20 feet (5.5-6m) tall with sturdy support. It handles full sun to partial shade, though flowering is most profuse in sunny spots. It just needs a sturdy lattice, pergola, or wire trellis for its twining stems to cling to in the first place. Don't prune heavily in early spring, as it sets flower buds on old wood. In autumn, its glossy foliage can often take on attractive bronze or purplish tones in cooler weather. You can buy Expert Gardener Star Jasmine Live Plants from Walmart for quick-growing fragrance and year-round lush growth.

3. Fragrant Tea Olive

Fragrant tea olive is a dense broadleaf evergreen shrub prized for intense scent and heavy cover in southern landscapes. Hardy in zones 8-11, this glossy green screen shrub produces glossy, dark green foliage that forms a thick barrier 10-15 feet (3-4.5m) tall. While its small flower clusters look subtle, they deliver a rich, sweet perfume reminiscent of ripe apricots and peaches during fall and early spring. You can buy Orange Flowering Fragrant Tea Olive from Amazon for its sweet scent and bright blooms as well as its dense year-round privacy screening.

Tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans) performs best in full sun to partial shade in moist, well-draining soil. Popular cultivars include Apricot Gold, which features striking apricot-orange blooms, and Butter Yellow for cream-colored flowers. Plant it near outdoor seating, windows, or entries where its fall fragrance can be appreciated. Just don't prune heavily in late summer, as blooms form on previous season's growth. It makes a lovely formal hedge or background screen with lower flowering perennials.

4. Broadleaf Rhododendron PJM

If you want an evergreen privacy shrub that thrives in cold northern climates, while offering vibrant seasonal shifts, the PJM rhododendron is a gorgeous plant for privacy. Hardy in zones 4-8, this tough broadleaf evergreen grows into a dense, rounded shrub that is 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8m) tall. In spring, it fills with lavender-pink blooms. Then, in fall and winter, its leather-like leaves transform into a mahogany-bronze tone that adds rich color to snowy winter borders.

This rhodie handles winter wind and freezing conditions far better than traditional large-leaf rhododendrons. It thrives in partial shade and dappled sun, and only needs acidic, moist, well-drained soil. Top-dress with some pine needles or acidic leaf compost to help maintain optimal growing conditions into winter, and underplant with shade-loving spring bulbs or Japanese forest grass. You can buy Rhododendron PJM Elite Plants from Walmart for lush year-round interest at an impressive scale.

5. Carolina Jessamine

Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is a native evergreen vine that brings cheery sunshine color in late winter, as well as dense vertical screening. Hardy in zones 7-10, its wiry, reddish stems climb over fences, trellises, and arbors, reaching 10-20 feet (3-6m). Its glossy green leaves provide year-round privacy, while late winter and early spring bring clusters of bright trumpet blooms that attract early pollinators.

This low-maintenance climber grows happily in full sun to partial shade, plus a wide variety of soil types, quickly producing thick fence cover. It is naturally deer-resistant and heat-tolerant, making it an excellent choice for sunny fence lines, porch railings, or mailbox trellises. Just don't allow livestock or pets to ingest the plant, as all parts contain toxic alkaloids. You can buy Carolina Jessamine from Trees at a real bargain, plus there’s a discount code if you hurry.

6. Green Giant Arborvitae

For fast, impenetrable privacy screens that form a feathery living wall, arborvitae Green Giant (Thuja standishii × plicata) is an impressive choice. Hardy in zones 5-9, this hybrid evergreen tree grows at an astonishing 3-5 feet (90cm-1.5m) per year, rapidly maturing to 30-40 feet (9-12m) with a broad base 6-12 feet (1.8-3.6m) wide. Its soft, fan-like foliage remains bright year-round without bronzing in winter cold. You can currently buy Thuja Green Giant from Trees for a very generous discount.

This quick-growing evergreen is very adaptable, handling full sun to partial shade and thriving in rich, moist, well-draining soils. Unlike delicate arborvitae varieties, it has exceptional resistance to heavy snow and is rarely bothered by deer. Just space each tree 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8m) apart for a tight, solid hedge, and don't allow young trees to dry out during their first season in the ground. These evergreens make an effective windbreak, noise barrier, or background screen along wide property edges.

7. Camellia

Camellias are gorgeous winter bloomers, combining dense broadleaf evergreen privacy with jaw-dropping color, as many other plants are resting. Hardy in zones 7-10, Camellia sasanqua species grow into lush shrubs 6-10 feet (1.8-3m) tall. From October to December, when much else is dormant, they produce elegant ruffled flowers that pop against dark, glossy foliage. Buy Warm Hearted Ruby Camellia Plants from Plant Addicts for magenta blooms and a substantial upright habit.

Camellia sasanqua is more sun-tolerant and open-growing than its spring-blooming cousin (C. japonica), making it ideal for hedges. These vibrant beauties prefer partial shade, protected from harsh afternoon sun, and thrive in moist, acidic, well-drained soil. Use as formal hedges, specimen patio plants, or foundation plantings alongside hydrangeas and ferns.

Creating a private sanctuary doesn't require lots of extra tall wooden fences. By introducing a thoughtful mix of fast-growing evergreens, fragrant broadleaf shrubs, and lush climbing vines this October, you can quickly create a living, multi-layered green wall that shields your home year-round. Pick your favorite varieties, get planting this fall, and enjoy a secluded, beautiful garden for years to come…

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Sugar maples and burning bushes may be spectacular sources of fall color, but they are far from being the only examples of shifting seasonal hues. In many cases, the most popular fall plants offer only a brief burst of red or copper before dropping their leaves almost overnight. If you’re looking for something a little less predictable or fleeting, a few lesser-known options offer unique elements like berries and bark.

October presents a golden opportunity to show some love to these tough perennials and shrubs for fall color. Thanks to a combination of warm soil temperatures and crisp, cool air, they will hit their stride that much quicker. Shrubs and hardy perennials planted now can settle in with minimal stress, developing deep, healthy root networks long before the ground freezes.

Make some room for golden, swaying grasses, deep burgundy bark and stems, and bright berries to feed local wildlife. By expanding your palette, you’ll create a mult-layered and multiseasonal array of tone and texture. Hopefully, these shrubs and perennials will inspire you with diverse visuals that often sustain well into winter. Make more of these dazzling hidden gems for effortless fall color that can keep your garden glowing for months.

Planting Shrubs and Perennials in October

Getting plants into the ground in October is one of the smartest moves you can make. Unlike spring planting, where young roots must cope with rising heat and drought, fall soil holds abundant summer warmth while rains keep moisture levels consistent. This allows young roots and crowns to focus their energy underground.

Just make sure you select plants that will grow well in your USDA hardiness zone. In northern zones (zones 3-6), aim to complete planting by the third week of the month, so roots can anchor before soil temperatures drop sharply. However, in the south (zones 7-10), you can plant comfortably well through November.

Prepare your planting holes by top-dressing with rich organic compost. This gives young roots a gentle nutrient boost without forcing tender growth that could be damaged by early frosts. A little mushroom compost makes an excellent soil amendment for these fall plantings. Either add a little aged natural mushroom compost, or a handful of Espoma Organic Natural Mushroom Blend, available from Walmart. This is ideal for conditioning planting holes and encouraging deep roots.

Once planted, water your tough perennials and fall shrubs deeply. Apply a 2-3-inch (5-8cm) blanket of organic wood mulch or shredded leaves, as this will help to insulate the roots against winter freeze-thaw cycles. Then sit back and enjoy the lovely spectacle of color and texture these hidden gems bring all season long.

1. Fothergilla Mount Airy

If you were to choose just one underused native shrub for fall color, fothergilla (Fothergilla spp.) deserves the top spot. While famous for its honey-scented, brush-like spring flowers, autumn is when this compact shrub can really steal the show. Beginning in October, its leathery, witch-hazel-like leaves undergo a mesmerizing transformation, mixing vibrant shades of electric yellow, fiery orange, deep crimson, and rich violet on a single branch.

Hardy in zones 4-8, fothergilla grows 3-5 feet (90-150cm) tall with a neat, mounded habit. It flourishes in full sun to partial shade, though full sun produces the most intense colors. Fothergilla prefers moist, acidic, well-draining soil. Add mulch annually with pine needles or acidic leaf compost to maintain a low soil pH. Alkaline, chalky soils can cause leaf yellowing. Pair this shrub with blue-toned dwarf conifers or Japanese forest grass for gorgeous contrast. To enjoy these dazzling tones in miniature, you can buy Mount Airy Dwarf Fothergilla from Nature Hills.

2. Virginia Sweetspire (Henry’s Garnet)

Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) is a native deciduous shrub that can even put traditional burning bushes to shame. Forming arching mounds 3-5 feet (90-150cm) high, Henry's Garnet produces fragrant, cascading flower spires in early summer. As autumn arrives, its glossy leaves shift to a saturated garnet-red and port-wine purple that survive further into late autumn than almost any other shrub. You can buy Henry’s Garnet from Plant Addicts for long-lasting shocks of crimson and purple.

Hardy in zones 5-9, it is highly adaptable. It thrives in full sun, partial shade, and even heavy shade (though sun yields the brightest red tones). It is tolerant of wet, clay soils, making it perfect for rain gardens, low-lying garden spots, or erosion control on slopes. Just water consistently during its first year. Don't worry about heavy pruning, as its natural arching habit is part of its charm. Plant it alongside yellow-foliaged shrubs or golden grasses for a rich border display.

3. Paperbark Maple

For structural elegance that combines dazzling fall foliage with year-round visual interest, the paperbark maple (Acer griseum) is well worth a spot. Growing slowly into a small, well-behaved specimen tree or large shrub, reaching 15-20 feet (4.5-6m) tall, its trifoliate leaves turn copper, ruby-red and scarlet in late October. After the leaves drop, its cinnamon-brown bark peels back to reveal polished mahogany wood that glows in winter sun. It may take a few years to develop those distinctive colors, but you can buy Paperbark Maple Container Trees from Amazon.

Hardy in zones 4-8, paperbark maple grows best in full sun to partial shade in well-drained, average-to-rich soil. It is virtually pest- and disease-free, and requires no complicated pruning. Just don't allow newly planted specimens to bake in severely dry, compacted clay without moisture. Underplant with evergreen groundcovers like vinca or dark hellebores to accentuate its cinnamon trunk.

4. Coralberry Magic Berry

While most fall plants deliver on leaf color, Coralberry Magic Berry (Symphoricarpos) adds a pop of vibrant fruit. Growing into a rounded shrub 3-4 feet (90-120cm) tall and wide, in October its stems are filled with vivid clusters of pink-purple berries. These jewel-like berry clusters remain on the bare branches well into winter, providing valuable food for songbirds. For a softer bubblegum berry tone, buy Proven Winners’ Proud Berry Pink Coralberry from Walmart for exquisite late-season color.

Hardy in zones 4-9, coralberry handles full sun to partial shade and adapts to a wide variety of soil types, including lean or clay soils. Cut back stems lightly in early spring to encourage fresh, fruit-bearing new growth. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds now, which encourage leaf growth at the expense of berries. Interplant with dark purple ninebark (physocarpus) or golden panic grasses for a lush fall tonal contrast.

5. Pineapple Sage

Don’t forget flowers for autumn joy! For late-season color just as frost approaches, pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is an unexpected treat. True to its name, rubbing its soft leaves releases an irresistible pineapple fragrance. Rising 3-5 feet (90-150cm) tall, this fast-growing plant erupts in October with tubular scarlet flower spikes. These act as a magnet for hummingbirds and pollinators. You can buy Greenwood Nursery Store’s Pineapple Sage from Amazon as double starter pots.

Hardy as a perennial in zones 8-11 (and grown as a late-season annual or overwintered indoor pot in zones 3-7), pineapple sage loves full sun and well-draining, fertile soil. Plant in a warm, sheltered spot near patios – don't let it sit in waterlogged soil. In colder zones, take softwood cuttings in October or bring potted specimens indoors before freezes. Pair its scarlet blooms with purple salvias or dark sweet potato vine for a fall finale.

6. Arkansas Blue Star

This unique perennial is native to Arkansas and Oklahoma, but easy to grow anywhere in zones 4-9. Arkansas blue star (Amsonia hubrichtii) is regarded as one of the finest native perennials, thanks to its fall transformation. Through summer, it forms a dense, feathery 3-foot (90cm) mound of needle-like foliage, topped with soft blue spring blooms. But in October, it turns a brilliant, glowing butter-gold and amber-orange, holding its color for over a month. Buy Perennial Farm Marketplace’s Arkansas Blue Star from Amazon as live plants for fine-textured, golden foliage.

Hardy in zones 4-9, Arkansas blue star is long-lived, drought-tolerant, and deer-resistant. It performs best in full sun and well-drained soil, but otherwise this plant is not picky and is easy to grow. Plant in full sun to prevent flopping and don't disturb established clumps unnecessarily. Shear foliage back by one-third after spring flowering to encourage a dense shape. Combine its glowing plumes with purple asters or blue sedums for a classic, high-contrast fall border.

7. Little Bluestem

You may consider ornamental grass for texture and movement, but certain native grasses are also excellent for dynamic fall tone. Little bluestem is a gorgeous fall prairie grass option. Growing in neat tufts 2-4 feet (60-120cm) tall, its blue-green summer blades transform in October into rich shades of mahogany, coppery-orange, and warm purple, topped with fluffy, silvery seed heads that catch the light. For playful streaks of purple, Plants That Work’s Twilight Zone Little Bluestem Grass from Nature Hills is a gorgeous drought-tolerant native grass.

Hardy in zones 3-9, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) thrives in full sun and dry, lean soils where other plants struggle. Don't overwater or plant in heavy shade, which causes stems to flop. Otherwise, you can leave the coppery foliage standing in winter to provide food and shelter for songbirds and winter interest. Interplant with goldenrod, coneflowers and amsonia for luxe designer accents.

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Walk down any garden path this month, and you’ll likely meet the usual suspects. Tightly packed potted chrysanthemums and cheerful asters dominate porch steps and garden beds, and they represent the classic choice for fall color. Yet, for all their prolific hues, mums often act as short-lived annuals that tire quickly after the first hard freeze, leaving bare gaps right when late fall beds and borders need a lift.

Instead of settling for a quick fix, why not add something unexpectedly gorgeous that your neighbors can admire with fascination? These choice perennial plants provide fall color every year – and this month is both a great time to plant them and to enjoy their uplifting blooms. It might sound too good to be true, but these perennial treasures return year after year with breathtaking late-season brilliance.

Expanding your horizons reveals a wealth of underrated perennial stars, from delicate, dancing flower wands to clouds of nectar-rich blooms. By slipping these unsung hero perennials into your borders now, you aren't just saving late-season borders from fading away. You are actively investing in a richer, low-maintenance garden story that bursts into life every October.

Flowering Perennials for October

The cooler air temperatures and still-warm soil are ideal for establishing these fall perennial plants before winter. While it may feel chilly in the air, the soil remains warm from months of summer sun, and is highly receptive to healthy plantings. This gentle ground warmth creates an excellent foundation for root development, allowing newly planted perennials to root deep without the threat of late summer heat.

Planting your flowering perennials in fall is all about timing. As long as your ground remains workable and you have 3-4 weeks before the first winter frost is anticipated in your area, the plant’s roots should settle in happily. Your growing or hardiness zone will determine how fast you move in October. In cooler northern regions (zones 3-6), you should aim to get plants into the ground early in the month, so root systems adapt before soil temperatures plummet. In the south (zones 7-10), growers have a longer runway, and warm soil conditions allow easy planting well into late fall.

Late-season soil is often depleted or compacted after busy summer growth. Take a moment to enrich your planting holes with rich organic matter to give young root systems a head start. Once your new perennials are tucked into place, apply a generous 2-3-inch (5-8 cm) blanket of shredded bark or leaf mulch. Organic favorite Back to the Roots Organic Premium Mulch, available from Amazon, will help maintain ground conditions and prevent winter frost heaving.

Finally, make sure you water your newly planted perennials regularly until the ground freezes. Deep, regular watering is the secret to winter survival for any late-season additions. That way, these unexpectedly lovely flowering perennials will add color and movement through late fall, and continue their fall shows year after year.

1. Joe Pye Weed

If you need a tall perennial to add texture, balance and beauty at the back of your fall borders, Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) is a champion. Rising up to 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4m) tall on sturdy stems, this plant forms massive domed heads of dusty-rose or mauve flowers that glow in late afternoon sunlight. It’s also a lovely late-season refueling station for monarch butterflies and bees when other nectar sources are scarce. If you are looking for a stunning compact native that can add joy to small spaces, go for Little Joe Joe Pye Weed Plants from Plant Addicts.

Hardy in USDA zones 4-9, Joe Pye weed thrives in full sun to partial shade and craves soil that stays moist. It is naturally tailored for rain gardens, pond edges, or low-lying garden spots. Key varieties like Baby Joe offer compact choices for smaller yards without sacrificing bloom impact. Just keep soil consistently damp while the plant establishes. It looks amazing paired with golden ornamental grasses or towering black-eyed Susans.

2. Goldenrod

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) has suffered from bad publicity for decades, due to widespread confusion with ragweed. But despite fears, this native beauty will not trigger fall allergies, so don’t be afraid of its joyful blooms. Capable of flowering all the way to November, goldenrod produces feather-like sprays of honey-gold flowers that bring electric light to fading borders. Choose Green Promise Farms Fireworks Goldenrod Plants, available from Walmart, for an award-winning bargain that will establish quickly to service this season's late-visiting pollinators. Its heavy, sticky pollen is carried by beneficial insects rather than the wind.

Extremely hardy in zones 2-8, goldenrod is virtually indestructible once established. It handles full sun, average-to-poor soil, and drought conditions with ease. Modern cultivars stay neatly behaved: look for Fireworks for golden explosions, or Golden Fleece for low, edging groundcover growth. Just avoid overly rich, nitrogen-heavy soils, which can cause the stems to become floppy. Combine its brilliant yellow plumes with deep purple aster varieties or dark blue salvias for classic contrast.

3. Plumbago

Plumbago (aka blue leadwood) is the ultimate groundcover for fall drama. Blue leadwood (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is a gorgeous double hitter for color, with vivacious red or bronze fall foliage as well as lush sapphire flowers. Growing just 8-12 inches (20-30cm) tall, this spreading dwarf shrub carpet produces intense, gentian-blue flowers from late August into November. To bring jewel-like color to gloomy parts of your yard, buy Blue Plumbago Plants from Nature Hills for luminescent blooms in the shade.

Hardy in zones 5-9, plumbago excels in full sun to partial shade, though morning sun with light afternoon shade yields the richest foliage tones. Excellent drainage is essential, as these plants don’t like waterlogged winter soil. Plumbago is especially pretty along garden edges, rockeries, and retaining walls. Don't worry if it emerges late: it often saves its best energy for a dazzling late-fall showing. Pair it with yellow-flowering bulbs or emerging colchicum for a sensational low-growing display.

4. Gaura

For one of the most magical names in this roundup, meet whirling butterflies, more commonly known as gaura. Bringing an airy, magical texture to October borders, Gaura is a joy to grow in late fall. Rising on wand-like stems 2-4 feet (60-120 cm) high, its delicate pink and white blooms dance in breezes until the first frost. It creates an ethereal display that breathes continuous movement into quiet beds. Buy Gaudi Rose Gaura Starter Plants from Amazon for lush sprays of hot pink blooms.

Hardy in zones 5-9, gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri) loves full sun and lean, sharply draining soil. Thanks to a long, deep taproot, it has exceptional heat and drought tolerance once settled. Key varieties like Siskiyou Pink bloom for months on end. Just avoid heavy clay soils that retain winter water, and avoid hard spring pruning until new growth shows. Interplant this beauty with ornamental grasses like Pennisetum or dark-leaved heuchera for effortless elegance.

5. Toad Lily

When a lot of other flowering stalwarts are finally fading in shade gardens, the toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta) adds breathtaking elegance. From September to November, its arching stems bear intricate, star-shaped, orchid-like flowers, heavily speckled in shades of amethyst, magenta, and creamy white. Growing 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) tall, these exotic flowers reward close inspection, making them a must-have for pathway edges and courtyard borders. You can buy Emerald Goddess Garden Store Toad Lily Live Plants from Amazon if you hurry for unique color in the gloom.

Hardy in zones 4-8, toad lilies require partial to full shade and rich, organic soil that remains consistently moist but drains well. Standout varieties include Miyazaki for cascading speckled blooms or Empress for larger individual flowers. Top-dress with rich leaf mold or compost each year, to mimic their native habitat. Most shady flowers bloom in spring, so this is a memorable perennial for fall color in shade gardens. Plant them along edges, where their delicate blooms won’t be missed.

6. Hesperantha

Hesperantha (formerly Schizostylis) is unmissable, yet often gets overlooked in fall flower roundups. This vivacious South African native pushes up gladiolus-like spikes of bowl-shaped flowers in saturated shades of scarlet, crimson, and salmon pink. Blooming through October and November, it brings an astonishing flush of tropical color right when frost threatens. For satisfying salmon pink blooms ready for late season planting, choose Sunrise Hesperantha Starter Plants from Amazon.

Hardy in zones 7-9 (and easily overwintered in zone 6 with mulch), Hesperantha coccinea reaches 18-24 inches (45–60 cm) tall and multiplies into lush clumps. It just demands full sun and rich soil during the growing season. Popular varieties like hot red Major or Mrs. Hegarty'(satin pink) make outstanding, long-lasting cut flowers. Pair this sassy late season bloomer with silver foliage like stachys or blue-toned ornamental grasses for dramatic color pop.

7. Japanese Anemone

Some of you may already be familiar with the delights of this elegant beauty, especially if you have shady spaces that need a bit of sparkle. Japanese anemones (Anemone × hybrida) bring effortless grace to late-season borders. Held on slender 3-4-foot (90-120 cm) stems above lush grape-like foliage, their single or double flowers sway gently from August through November. The gold central stamens provide a stunning focal point to these ethereal flowers. For the ultimate dancing bright white blooms, buy Whirlwind Japanese Anemone Plants from Plant Addicts.

Hardy in zones 4-8, they flourish in partial shade to morning sun in rich, moist, well-draining soil. Cultivars like crisp white Honorine Jobert (pictured) or dark pink September Charm are famous for long bloom windows. Be patient after planting: they grow modestly in their first year, but spread happily once settled. Mulch well in winter to protect young crowns, and try grouping with toad lilies, autumn ferns, and hellebores for a multi-season shade border.

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As October arrives and fall weather settles in, your focus may naturally shift towards fall cleanup and preparing the yard for winter. While spring clean-up may get more attention, October tasks are just as vital for maintaining healthy, robust shrubs. This is especially true for garden workhorses like hydrangeas. The care they receive during these crisp, shifting fall weeks can directly determine performance next year.

Hydrangea care in October is a happy mix of strategic actions, requiring as many "don’ts" as "do’s" for safeguarding plant health. Knowing what yours needs before the cold weather settles in will help shield vulnerable roots and protect stems from frost damage. Thankfully, completing these essential fall maintenance steps takes very little time, while paying massive dividends when the warmer weather returns.

Taking time to care for your hydrangeas now ensures they emerge from winter dormancy in peak condition. Whether you grow bigleaf mopheads, lacecaps, cold-hardy panicles, or dramatic oakleaf hydrangeas, these easycare steps can protect your shrubs, safeguard dormant buds, and guarantee a breathtaking, bloom-filled display next summer.

Helping Hydrangeas in October

Preparing hydrangeas for winter now requires a clear understanding of how soil, moisture, and light conditions change as daylight shortens. While fall rain can often reduce the need for daily watering, you still need to make sure that your shrubs enter winter with adequately moist soil. Cold, icy winds can dehydrate plant tissue, and well-hydrated roots withstand freeze-thaw cycles far better than they do when dry. So continue watering deeply during dry spells until the ground freezes.

What you do in October will depend on which type of hydrangea you are growing. Panicle (H. paniculata) and smooth (H. arborescens) hydrangeas bloom on new wood produced in spring, making them very cold-hardy and forgiving. Conversely, bigleaf (H. macrophylla), mountain (H. serrata), and oakleaf (H. quercifolia) types set their flower buds on old wood in late summer. For these old-wood bloomers, it’s important to protect overwintering stems and terminal buds from harsh frosts.

Regional climate variations will also have some bearing. In northern regions (USDA zones 3-5), it’s important to prioritize root insulation and wind protection before hard freezes set in. Sprinkling a handful of Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plus, available from Walmart, around the base of your hydrangeas can strengthen roots ahead of winter. In the south (zones 7-9), it’s best to focus on gentle soil conditioning and light debris removal Here’s what you need to do this month to get your hydrangea ready for even bigger blooming displays next year…

1. Halt All Fertilizer Applications

Start your October hydrangea checklist with the easiest task of all: a complete hold on fertilizing. If you have been applying monthly fertilizer to boost foliage and flower size, now is the time to stop. Simply resist the urge to feed your hydrangeas as the weather cools. This pause is vital for health. The purpose of feeding is to encourage new shoots and foliage. But any tender new branches produced now will die in the winter weather, leaving the plant vulnerable to stem dieback and fungal infections.

This rule applies to all hydrangea types, whether old-wood mopheads or new-wood panicles. Ceasing fertilizer allows the shrub to shift its energy into natural dormancy, hardening its bark and storing carbohydrate reserves in its root system. Instead of feeding foliage now, top-dress the soil with a clean organic amendment like kelp meal to quietly support root health without forcing unwanted top growth. Down to Earth Organic Kelp Meal, available from Amazon, gives soil health a natural boost. This potassium-rich seaweed meal improves cold hardiness.

2. Rake Up and Clear Fallen Debris

Falling tree leaves blanket garden beds, while hydrangeas begin dropping their own yellowing foliage. A scattered layer may seem harmless, but thick mats of soggy plant debris beneath your hydrangeas can create disease and pest issues. Common fungal diseases like leaf spot, powdery mildew, and botrytis blight produce spores that survive in damp, decaying leaf litter. When spring rains arrive, these spores splash back up onto emerging shoots, re-infecting the shrub before it finishes leafing out. Clearing fallen leaf litter is a key defense against overwintering pathogens.

Oakleaf and bigleaf hydrangeas are especially susceptible to leaf spot. Use a light hand rake or leaf claw to clear away spent foliage. The excellent compact Gardena Combisystem Hand Rake from Amazon is perfect for clearing debris around delicate shrub bases without damaging stems. Place diseased leaves straight into popup garden waste bags rather than your home compost heap. Collapsible options like the Fiskars Kangaroo 10-Gallon Collapsible Vinyl Garden Bags from Walmart are really durable and make gathering and transporting soggy leaves effortless.

3. Apply a Protective Layer of Organic Mulch

Applying a fresh blanket of organic mulch is one of the most effective ways to shield hydrangeas from winter weather. Mulching keeps soil cool on hot days in fall and warm on cooler days in winter. It also holds moisture into the soil and stops weeds appearing. Choose high-quality organic mulches, such as shredded hardwood, bark chips, pine straw, or well-rotted leaf mold. You can buy Back to the Roots Organic Premium Bark Mulch from The Home Depot. This chemical-free hardwood mulch insulates shallow roots against hard freezes. Organic materials gradually break down, enriching the surrounding soil.

In moderate climates (zones 7-9), a 2-3-inch (5-8cm) layer provides ideal protection. If you live in a cold northern climate (zones 3-6), double the thickness to 4-5 inches (10-12cm). Always pull mulch 2-3 inches (5-8cm) away from the main stems, creating a donut shape around the base. Stacking mulch directly invites stem rot and provides mice or voles with a sheltered spot to chew on tender bark. If your region gets truly cold in winter, double the mulch layer. You can also add some Espoma Natural Mushroom Blend, available from Walmart, which is ideal for layering beneath mulch to enrich tired fall soil.

4. Deadhead Selectively Based on Habit

Deciding whether to snip off faded flowerheads in October depends on which type of hydrangea you grow, as well as your personal taste. Dried hydrangea blooms can fade into gorgeous antique parchment tones, offering striking textural beauty. Some hydrangea varieties bloom on new growth, some bloom on old growth.

For hydrangeas that bloom on new wood, such as smooth hydrangeas like Annabelle and panicle hydrangeas like Limelight, you can deadhead spent flower clusters in early October. This can prevent snow and ice from accumulating, which can cause brittle stems to bend or snap. Snip the stem just below the spent cluster, using pruning snips like highly rated Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips from Amazon. However, don’t do this in late October, as it can make the hydrangea vulnerable to winter damage.

If you grow old-wood bloomers like bigleaf mopheads, lacecaps, or oakleaf, it is too late to deadhead. These varieties set their winter flower buds directly below the existing blooms in late summer. So deadheading in October risks cutting off next summer’s flowers. If in doubt, leave the dried blooms intact through winter: they serve as natural protective caps shielding the fragile top buds from icy winds. Come spring, you can snip off any of the old hydrangea flowers that overwinter.

5. Prune Lightly or Postpone Until Spring

Pruning is another October task that only applies to hydrangeas that bloom on new wood. So take care, because pruning hydrangeas unnecessarily now can eliminate next season’s flower display. If you grow old-wood varieties like bigleaf or oakleaf hydrangeas, do not prune in October. To do so is to remove the buds that produce those fabulous blooms. Major structural pruning should be put on hold until early spring when shrubs are fully dormant. Limit any cuts strictly to removing dead, diseased, or damaged branches (otherwise known as the 3Ds).

If you grow new-wood types like panicles or smooth hydrangeas, you can perform light shaping once foliage drops. However, even with these tough cultivars, hard pruning is best delayed until late winter. Lightly trim crossing stems or awkward branches using bypass pruners, cutting at a 45-degree angle. If you want the best of the best, Felco 2 Classic Bypass Pruners from Amazon slice cleanly through thicker branches and come with a lifetime guarantee. Clean blades with isopropyl alcohol or diluted neem to prevent cross-contamination. If in doubt, this doesn’t have to be done now. You can put it off until late winter if you prefer.

6. Protect and Relocate Potted Hydrangeas

There is another big distinction between key hydrangeas. Yes, some bud on old wood and some on new. But an even more basic difference is where they were planted. Hydrangeas in the ground are fairly cold hardy, and most can survive winter’s worst within their growing zones. But container-based hydrangeas are more vulnerable to freezing temperatures that can crack pottery and freeze root balls solid.

October is your chance to prepare potted hydrangeas for winterizing before severe cold snaps hit. In milder areas (zones 7-8), group pots together against a sheltered house wall or unheated porch, wrapping the pots in burlap to protect roots. In colder northern regions (zones 3-6), they should be moved into an unheated garage or shed once the plant drops its leaves and starts to enter dormancy. This is to keep roots safe from drying, icy winds. For heavier containers, use caddies to relocate your hydrangeas, such as Parsagi’s 20-Inch Metal Plant Caddies from Amazon.

Water dormant potted hydrangeas sparingly (about once a month), just enough to keep the root ball from drying out. Blending in a handful of perlite or coarse sand can help to maintain optimal drainage. Adding a little Plantonix Perlite Bliss Premium from Walmart to potting mixes help to maintain hydrangea health through winter.

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Now you have your October action plan, you just need a few key items to help see your shrubs through the colder months. To help your hydrangeas thrive and emerge strong in spring, make a little room in your shed for these essential container buddies, tools, and soil amendments, to keep your maintenance tasks stress-free.

Hydrangea Care Trio

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Terracotta pots may look beautiful but many popular plants struggle to grow in the conditions they create, and would be far happier in a cheap plastic planter. Traditional unglazed terracotta pots are made from porous clay, which constantly wicks moisture from the soil in dry weather. This 360° drainage is a distinct advantage for some plants that love dry conditions, but it can sound a death knell for others.

So, if you’re a fan of container gardening and growing plants in terracotta pots, it’s best you check. Some of the best perennial plants for patio pots loathe growing within clay walls, however much you tend to them, so it’s highly likely one’s struggling in your yard right now. There are plenty of plants that flourish in terracotta pots, though, so an afternoon spent pot-swapping could transform how your garden fares.

I’ve compiled a list of the top plants you should never, ever plant in a terracotta pot. Rehome these much-loved garden plants into glazed ceramic, fiberstone, resin or plastic planters instead, and they’ll not only thrive in the more consistent moisture that's locked into soil for lush foliage and longer-lasting flowers, but you’ll cut your container watering time to enjoy a more low-maintenance yard to boot.

1. Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are thirsty plants with a high water requirement, so should never be planted in a terracotta container. Hydrangea macrophylla (bigleaf or mophead hydrangea) with its large leaves that create a huge surface area for water to evaporate from is the most moisture-hungry of the lot, so this will really fail to flourish in a terracotta pot. And if a hydrangea’s soil keeps drying out while it’s forming its flowerbuds, it may not bloom at all.

Hydrangeas also have surprisingly shallow root systems – which is why such a big shrub can be successfully grown in the confines of a container in the first place. Because terracotta retains heat from the sun, roots can easily become scorched in peak summer heat, adding to the likelihood of crispy leaves, browning blooms and dramatic – and perhaps fatal – flopping.

2. Hostas

Another favourite for patio pots that loves consistently damp soil and rapidly dries out because of the large surface area of leaves, hostas shouldn’t be grown in terracotta planters. If you are, now you know why the leaves always have crispy brown margins, despite your regular watering routine.

3. Soft-Leaved Ferns

Many ferns have evolved to grow on moist rainforest floors or shady streambanks, so naturally appreciate damp soil. As a rule of thumb, if a fern has soft, thin or lacy leaves, it shouldn’t be grown in an unglazed terracotta pot – which makes clay containers an absolute no-no for maidenhair, ostrich and Boston ferns.

Ferns with thick, glossy leaves are far better able to tolerate drier conditions – and some actively appreciate life in a terracotta pot. Bird’s nest fern evolved to live high in the tree canopy so loves the airflow of a breathable terracotta pot, while Hart’s tongue fern needs its sharp drainage because it naturally grows in rocky crevices. So if you have a fern growing in a terracotta pot, take a closer look at its leaves and origin story.

4. Azaleas

Another reason why some plants fail to flourish in a terracotta pot is because the natural clay creates slightly alkaline conditions. Over time, that can affect the pH levels of soil, which can be a problem for acid-loving plants like azaleas and rhododendrons. It’ll become a problem for you too, because flowers can be less vibrant if the soil acidity isn’t right.

Clay's porosity can also cause issues for this plant’s shallow root system that quickly dries out in a terracotta pot, causing azalea flowers to fade quickly, shortening the bloom time of this beautiful shrub.

5. Blueberries

Try and grow a blueberry bush in a terracotta pot and you’ll quickly run into trouble. Not only do these acid-loving plants abhor the alkaline conditions that a clay container nurtures, but they adore consistent moisture. And as if that wasn’t enough of an issue… because you’ll find yourself watering your blueberry plant more because of the quick-drying soil, the typically alkaline tap water will raise that soil pH some more. At the very least, the plant will produce little fruit, but death is also a very possible scenario.

6. Parsley

Parsley is a Mediterranean herb so loves life in a terracotta pot, right? Wrong! This flavorful herb may hail from warm climes but it needs consistently damp soil and prefers to have cool roots, quite the opposite of what a clay container provides. And a parsley plant that regularly dries out because soil moisture is being wicked away by its pot’s terracotta walls will have tougher, yellowing stems with a distinctly bitter-tasting edge. Yes, that’s the reason why! This is one of the commonest problems with terracotta pots, as most herbs do well in a clay container – but parsley isn't one of them.

7. Cardinal Flowers

A big patio planter of cardinal flowers that let's you watch pollinators while you sip a well-earned glass of something cold is a joy – but not if that pot is made of clay. Lobelia cardinalis naturally lives in bogs and on streambeds, so it requires consistently damp soil to thrive. A terracotta pot provides the opposite, and in this harsh environment those dramatic flower spikes will be stunted and buds may turn brown and drop before opening.

8. Canna Lilies

In most zones, it’s usual to grow these tender tropical beauties in pots so they’re easily moved into a garage or greenhouse for the winter. And few plants can bring such dramatic blooms and foliage in a container as a canna lily. However, that pot should never be a terracotta one.

Canna lilies use huge quantities of water in peak summer, evaporating moisture from their enormous leaves to keep cool and avoid scorching as well as harnessing heaps of H₂0 to facilitate their incredibly fast growth. These bold plants also rely on water pressure to keep their stems upright. In an unglazed terracotta pot where moisture is continually lost through the walls, these vital tasks are simply not possible. So if you’ve been wondering why your canna lilies keep wilting, now you know.

What Pots to Use Instead of Terracotta

If you love the look of terracotta – and who doesn’t adore this timeless classic – you have plenty of options to retain the style but keep your plants far healthier and happier. Simply slotting a plastic planter inside the terracotta pot works well, but do choose those meant for professional use such as these nursery pots from Amazon, both for their durability and extra drainage holes, .

There are lots of terracotta-look materials used to make planters, too. These all mimic the appearance of terracotta but are far less porous so lock moisture into the soil.

Resin

Resin is typically formed from a synthetic polymer such as polyethylene which comes in powdered form, so it’s easy to mix in color pigments to do a pretty good job of mimicking the real thing. Look for a resin planter which has a UV stabilizer in the mix so its lovely clay tones don’t fade in the sun. Resin walls are fully non-porous so these containers are a good choice for plants that like permanently damp soil, but do drill a few extra drainage holes in the base.

Plastic

If you’re on a budget, plastic planters in a terracotta tone are a great option. A rolled lip adds considerable strength to the design and, along with the tapering sides, helps it to pass for the real thing. Take a scouring pad to the plastic to lightly scuff a few areas that would naturally show signs of wear for a more aged terracotta look. Plastic isn’t at all breathable so while plants that like consistent moisture will thrive, rotting roots is a problem for those that need good drainage.

Magnesium Oxide

Magnesium oxide is a specialized type of concrete composite that’s easily mixed with other components to mimic natural materials such as terracotta and is very durable. This material is slightly porous so it gives roots a healthier environment than plastic while still locking in lots of moisture. For plants like hydrangeas which need good drainage alongside plenty of water, and acid-loving plants that dislike the alkalinity of terracotta, magnesium oxide are the best option. You’ll also find these listed as MgO and MGO cement or concrete planters.

What's Your USDA Zone?

If you've always wondered why a patio plant isn't flourishing, or what's best to plant in a terracotta pot, now you know. Repot plants into a more suitable home and you can look forward to abundant flowers and lush foliage for years to come.

Don't tell everyone, but buying end-of-season bargains and bare root plants now will fill your garden with flowers for years to come while saving a fortune. With fall sneaking up on us, next summer probably isn’t on your radar yet. But now is a surprisingly smart time to shop for perennials to plant in fall and give your garden a head start. There are September plant bargains to be had with garden centers keen to clear the last of their summer stock. Dormant bare root plants also offer an economical way to buy without paying out for a large plant that's costly to transport, and planting bare roots is just as easy as adding a potted plant to your backyard.

The real advantage of fall planting goes way beyond price, however. Warm soil and cooler air create excellent conditions for root growth, helping perennial plants settle in with less heat and transplant stress. And while there'll be no instant show of flowers or lush foliage, what matters is that roots are busy growing in the soil. By spring, that supportive root system means perennials hit the ground running, giving you bigger, stronger plants and, in many cases, lots more flowers.

So, if you want to have a gorgeous garden on a budget, start with these 10 reliable plants with serious flower power. Every garden should have all these hard-working flowering plants that bring plenty of blooms year in, year out, in return for very little effort. All are cheaper to buy right now in both bare root and potted form, and we've hunted out the very best deals on our recommended varieties. So, whether you're starting a new yard from scratch or want to ensure existing borders are packed with blooms, all these plants make great garden investments.

Ready to know what to buy and how to give it the best possible start so that next summer your garden will be blooming lovely? Let's dive in…

1. Peony

• Zones 3-8
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late spring to early summer
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 2-3 feet wide

With their varied shapes and brilliant colors, peonies are a must for any style of yard, and planting them now is better for the plant as well as your wallet. Buy peonies now as bare roots for planting in fall and in most of the US, the soil is still warm enough for roots to grow while the top growth is shutting down. And it's so easy to do. Plant a peony bare root with the eyes – the pink or reddish buds on the root – just 1-2 inches below the soil surface; any deeper and your peonies may refuse to flower. Give them full sun and excellent drainage, and don't crowd them as good air circulation helps keep foliage healthy.

'Coral Charm' Peony, available from Dutch Grown, is a particular favorite as it brings a succession of warm shades over the summer. Or for timeless romance, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ Peony, also available from Dutch Grown, is hard to beat with its huge, beautifully ruffled double blooms in soft rose-pink tones. Be patient as peonies can take a couple of seasons to settle in and flower generously but once established, they can live for 50 years or more!

2. Daylily

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers summer into fall, depending on variety
• Grows to 1-4 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are not only glorious, but they’re also wonderfully forgiving, making them one of the easiest bare root perennials to establish in fall. Planting daylilies now gives the fleshy roots time to settle into their new home while cooler weather reduces the stress of transplanting. Come spring, your daylily will start the growing season with roots that have had months to establish, for a standout show of blooms.

Set the crown – where the roots meet the leaves – about 1 inch below the soil surface, rather than burying it deeply. Water well after planting, then keep the soil reasonably moist until the ground begins to freeze. Give daylilies a sunny spot for the best flowering, although many varieties tolerate light shade.

One of the most popular varieties with garden designers is Daylily 'Black Stockings', available from Dutch Grown, with unrivalled near-black, velvety petals. It’s a reblooming variety, so you'll enjoy more blooms for your bucks. For a softer, more romantic note, Daylily 'Lavender Tutu', also available from Dutch Grown, makes a beautiful contrast to deeper purples, burgundies and pinks of other perennials.

3. Oriental Poppy

• Zones 3-7
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late spring to early summer
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 1-2 feet wide

With their huge blousy blooms, oriental poppies (Papaver orientalis) are a perennial favorite and their chunky, fleshy roots are tailormade for bare root planting in fall, giving plants time to settle in before winter. Plant the roots horizontally, following the supplier's directions, being careful not to bury them too deeply. Choose a sunny position with sharply drained soil as winter-wet ground is a bigger threat than cold. Oriental poppies don’t take kindly to being moved so choose the right spot to start with and they'll put on a spectacular display for years to come.

For drama, few poppies can rival ‘Patty’s Plum’ with its huge, crinkled blooms, and bare root poppy 'Patty's Plum' is available at Dutch Grown. To bring light and contrast to any sunny border, 'Perry's White', also available from Dutch Grown, is a winner with enormous, ruffled white flowers.

4. Sedum

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to late fall
• Grows to 1-2½ feet high and 1½-3 feet wide

There’s a good reason why sedum (Hylotelephium) is such a reliable garden favorite, and that's because it's one of those late-season heroes that keeps on flowering when everything else has given up. It combines beautiful flowers with incredible resilience and requires hardly any looking after. These succulent-leaved perennials thrive in full sun and well-drained soil, shrugging off heat, drought and poor soil once established. So if you have a tricky too-hot area where not much wants to grow, here's your solution.

Sedum flowers are rich in nectar for bees and butterflies, and this plant earns its place in the garden well beyond its flowering season. The sturdy flowerheads look good through fall and you can leave the spent heads standing over winter to provide structure.

Buying potted plants at knock-down prices and planting them now gives sedum roots time to settle before next summer’s heat arrives. Water thoroughly after planting, then allow the soil to dry between waterings rather than keeping plants constantly moist. Autumn Joy sedum, available from Nature Hills is a must-have classic with large, flat heads of dusky pink flowers that deepen towards rich red as autumn progresses. For something a little different, Plum Dazzled sedum, available from Plant Addicts, combines sumptuous plum-purple foliage with rosy-pink flowers and adds rich color to the garden as the season begins to fade.

5. Bearded Iris

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers spring to early summer
• Grows to 1-2½ feet high and 1½-2 feet wide

Bold yet elegant bearded iris flowers bring vibrant color and beautiful structure to a garden, yet are far more low-maintenance and drought-tolerant that their exotic appearance suggests. Bearded iris can be bought as rhizomes – underground storage stems – at this time of the year, which is far cheaper than buying a potted ready-to-flower plant next year.

Fall planting allows the rhizome to make roots before the plant goes fully dormant, giving it a stronger launch into spring. Just be sure to give your bearded iris several weeks of root-building weather before winter arrives. Plant the rhizome at or just barely below the soil surface in a sun-baked spot with free-draining soil. Water thoroughly after planting, but don't keep the soil constantly wet.

The intense purple ruffles of bearded iris Black Knight, available from Dutch Grown, is a sophisticated choice and a worthy talking point, so add these to your front yard if you want to make your neighbors a little jealous. Bearded iris Wine and Roses, also available from Dutch Grown, offers a more romantic vibe with deliciously coloured pink and purple petals.

6. Coneflower

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to fall
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 1-2 feet wide

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a dependable perennial and will transform from a late-season nursery bargain into next summer's best pollinator magnet. By September, many container-grown coneflowers have finished their biggest floral display so garden centers drop the price – which is great news for savvy shoppers! Your garden birds will be pleased, too, as coneflowers provide plenty of homegrown seed for feathered friends.

Choose a spot with full sun and well-drained soil and water thoroughly when planting, then regularly irrigate while your coneflower is establishing without keeping the soil constantly soggy.

Magnus purple coneflower, available at Nature Hills is an unbeatable classic, offering color and sustenance to bees and butterflies throughout summer. For a sturdier habit and just as much butterfly appeal with masses of rich burgundy-red flowers, Sombrero Baja Burgundy coneflower, available from Burpee is another super choice for any garden.

7. Black-eyed Susans

• Zones 4-9/10 depending on species
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers summer to late fall
• Grows to 2-6 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Black-eyed Susan is a stalwart of sunny summer borders, delivering masses of cheerful flowers with little fuss. Leave some spent flowerheads over winter and you'll also provide seeds for birds, extending the plant's usefulness well beyond its flowering season. Potted Rudbeckia plants are often discounted once their peak summer display has passed; buy them now and you should still get a few weeks of color from these late-season bloomers.

Full sun is ideal, with reasonably fertile, well-drained soil. Water deeply after planting to encourage roots to explore the surrounding soil so, once established, plants are robust and can cope with heat and periods of dry weather.

‘Prairie Glow’ black-eyed Susan, available from Nature Hills, has a fiery twist and glows through the summer and into fall – perfect for bringing warmth to the late-season garden. Or, for a variety that takes up very little border space, choose Rudbeckia Little Goldstar, also available from Nature Hills, which is perfectly compact and equally floriferous. This is also one of best perennials for patio pots if you want maximum flowers for minimum effort.

8. Yarrow

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to fall
• Grows to 1-4 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Achillea is one of those plants that looks deceptively delicate but is a real garden workhorse. Its flat-topped flower clusters bring butterflies and other pollinators, while the foliage has a pleasingly ferny texture. With its tough constitution and long flowering season, yarrow is a particularly useful perennial for low-maintenance borders. By fall, container-grown yarrow plants have finished flowering, making them prime candidates for end-of-season markdowns.

Especially lovely is Achillea ‘Strawberry Seduction’, available from Nature Hills, which carries domed heads of deliciously rich pink-red flowers, gradually fading to warm straw yellow as summer progresses. For the earthy warmth of a summer sunset, yarrow ‘Desert Eve Terracotta’, available at Lowe's, is a more compact choice to add glowing color to a sunny border. Give yarrow full sun and good drainage and plant it at the same depth it was growing in its pot.

9. Aster

• Zones 3-8, depending on species
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late summer to fall
• Grows to 1-6 feet high and 1-4 feet wide

Native asters (Symphyotrichum) peak just as many perennials are winding down, producing clouds of daisy-like flowers in late summer and fall. That makes them particularly useful to wildlife – and easy to overlook when plant-shopping earlier in the year. Native asters are particularly useful for supporting specialist bees and are important host plants for numerous moth and butterfly caterpillars. Leaving the dried stems standing over winter will provide habitat and seed, as well as a little structure when the rest of the border has gone quiet.

Plant asters now while the soil is workable, preferably in sun and well-drained soil. Don't worry if the plant looks less than impressive once its flowers fade: the root system is busy growing to support bountiful blooms next year.

If you have a small gap to fill, try dwarf variety ‘Purple Dome’, available from Nature Hills – it’s great for being naturally pest-free too. For intensely rich, grape-purple flowers, ‘Grape Crush’, also available from Nature Hills, is the perfect antidote to fading summer color.

10. Hosta

• Zones 3-9
• Partial shade to shade
• Flowers summer
• Grows to ½–2½ feet high and ½-3 feet wide

The magic of hostas is they don't need to be in flower to be fabulous. Their leaves create structure, color and interest from spring onwards, making them wonderful for woodland gardens, shady borders, containers and naturalized planting.

Hostas are one of the easiest shade-loving perennials to establish from bare roots in fall. Plant your bargain roots in partial to full shade and rich, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil. Keep the crown level with the soil surface, water thoroughly and keep the soil consistently moist while roots establish, particularly if fall is dry. Don’t worry if there’s little to see above ground after planting as hostas naturally die back for winter before emerging in spring, when you'll need to protect tasty fresh leaves from slugs and snails with Garden Safe Slug and Snail Granules, available from Amazon.

A mixed hosta collection such as this Walmart deal is a lovely (and highly economical) way to discover just how much variety these plants can offer. Or skip straight to the showstoppers with a standout variety like hosta White Feather, available from Dutch Grown, whose cream leaves light up a shady corner. Hosta Fire & Ice, also available from Dutch Grown, is another surefire hit with stunning variegated foliage.

Top Tips for September Success

• Don't judge a plant by its flowers. End-of-season container plants can look a little scruffy but as long as the crown is firm, the foliage is reasonably healthy and the roots aren't rotten or completely pot-bound. When you're searching through a garden center's bargain corner, skip anything with obvious disease, severe pest damage or a dry, brittle root ball.
• Treat bare-root plants with care. The bare roots should arrive firm and substantial rather than dried out or brittle. Keep roots from drying out and plant as soon as practical, following the supplier's instructions for soaking and planting depth.
• Get the basics right. Always match the perennial to your USDA hardiness zone, sunlight, soil drainage and local growing conditions. The cheapest plant is no bargain if it's planted in the wrong place.
• In colder regions, aim to plant at least four to six weeks before the ground freezes, giving new arrivals time to establish before temperatures plummet.
• Water after planting. Fall rain may do some of the work but newly planted perennials still need a thorough drink and should be watered during prolonged dry spells while they establish.
• Always mulch fall-planted perennials. A 2-3 inch layer of organic mulch such as Back to Roots Organic Mulch, available from The Home Depot, laid over the soil surface helps conserve moisture and buffer temperature swings; keep it a little away from crowns and stems to prevent rot.

If you've been wondering what to plant in fall, now you know. Get busy in September and take advantage of end-of-season bargains and bare root plants and your garden will be packed full of flowers next summer, for years to come, without splashing the cash. There's no better way to save money when starting a new garden, adding another border or filling up an existing bed with extra flower power, than planting great-value perennials in fall.

Once summer’s peak is over, the price of plants plummets and there are some great deals to be had. You see, most folk simply don’t want to buy summer bloomers once they’re done blooming, because of the long wait till next year to be rewarded for their outlay. Consequently, nurseries are stuck with lots of pots to overwinter, so many slash prices to clear them out.

Add in some extra Labor Day plant deals, and we're talking big savings. And you, dear gardener, have the patience to capitalize on this summer-bloom bonanza. Buy these perennial plants and shrubs now and you’ll not only save a heap of money in your yard but getting them into the ground in late summer or early fall means they’ll grow bigger and better. Planting summer bloomers at this time of the year brings a magical combination of warm soil and regular moisture, and plants will use their energy to grow a supportive root system rather than flowers. By the time they’re ready to flower next year, they’ll be far stronger plants than if you had planted them in spring, so are better able to deal with heat- and drought-stress.

Just choose perennial plants that are cold-hardy for your zone, get them into the ground as soon as possible, and keep them watered through fall if it doesn’t rain. To give them a little extra insulation over winter, it’s a smart move to lay a duvet of mulch over the soil, using homemade compost or an organic mulch such as Back to the Roots Premium Mulch, available from Amazon. As a gardening editor for over a decade, I think all these plants are a must for every garden on account of their easy-going nature, beautiful flowers, foliage or fruit, and reliable performance year after year.

1. Lavender Phenomenal

If you want to save money on plants, start your journey right here. An exceptionally tough lavender, Lavandula ‘Phenomenal’ thrives harsh winters and hot or humid summers alike in zones 5 to 9, and brings vibrant violet-blue flowers atop a neat, rounded evergreen mound of silver-green foliage. Though it’s a lavender hybrid, which usually have a sharper, more camphorous scent than true lavender, its fragrance is beautifully sweet and can be harvested to dry. Phenomenal also blooms for significantly longer than standard English lavenders, often throwing out a repeat flush of flowers in fall.

2. Jolly Good Clematis

If ever I’m stuck for a present for a friend, whether they’re a gardener or not, I buy them a Jolly Good clematis. It’s one of the most easy-going clematis vines to grow, and is a hybrid of the already incredibly dependable Clematis ‘Jackmanii’. With lavender blooms from June to September, it’s happy in a pot or the ground in zones 4 to 9 and happily scrambles up a fence, trellis or post. It only grows to 6-7 feet high and 2-3 feet wide, though, so stays a tidy size. It’s a Group 3 clematis which means it's super-easy to prune – it blooms on new wood so you simply chop all the stems to around 2 feet from the ground in early spring, and let it scramble off all over again.

3. Kansas Peony

A gold medal winner from the American Peony Society, Paeonia lactiflora ‘Kansas’ is a peach of a peony. It boasts globe-shaped buds which open into ruffles of carmine-red petals that don’t fade, its stems are extremely strong and its scent is simply dreamy, drawing in bees and butterflies from all around. Flowering in mid to late spring, this perfect peony kickstarts your garden year, then the glossy dark green foliage remains a good foil for other blooms. Kansas peony can live up to 50 years in zones 3 to 8 so consider it a fabulous investment!

4. Star Jasmine

Is there a plant with a more divine fragrance than star jasmine? I don’t think so. Trachelospermum jasminoides, also known as confederate jasmine, is a versatile vine that thrives in sun and shade and its tiny white pinwheel flowers can fill a whole yard with their sweet, honey-like scent in late spring and summer. What’s more, star jasmine’s blooms open in the early evening and release the strongest fragrance just at the point of the day when you should be relaxing on your patio with a sundowner! Hardy in zones 8 to 11, its glossy green leaves are evergreen so the plant looks good year-round.

5. PowWow Echinacea

Because they’re such reliable, abundant bloomers, PowWow coneflowers can command a high pricetag. So if you're wondering what to plant in September, deals on these reliable bloomers shouldn't be missed. PowWow is a compact, award-winning series bred from the native Echinacea purpurea, retaining their resilient nature but with more branching for lots more flowers and sturdier, shorter stems that don’t need staking. Requiring no deadheading, drought-resistant once established and growing well in zones 3 through 9, these no-fuss flowers are a must-have for any sunny border.

6. Meyer Lemon Tree

Does every garden deserve a lemon tree? If you’ve got room to overwinter it indoors then the answer is a resounding yes. Citrus x meyeri ‘Improved’, more commonly called the Meyer lemon tree, is a cross between a tart lemon and a sweet orange, producing fruit that’s delightful in desserts and juices. You won’t have to wait long, either, as it’s quick to bear fruit in 1-2 years. Grow this pretty lemon tree outdoors year-round in zones 9-11 and overwinter it indoors in zones 3-8.

7. East Friesland Salvia

Salvia nemorosa ‘Ostfriesland’ is a real favorite among landscape designers for its intensely purple flower spikes that bloom all summer long from June through September. Color-drenching is a big landscaping trend at the moment, as is using a purple palette, and East Friesland Salvia is perfect for both. Drought-tolerant and so easy to grow, this salvia is a naturally neat, compact plant growing 2 feet high and wide without flopping in zones 4 to 8. Pop it alongside a path or at the front of a border as its wrinkly leaves release a fresh herbal scent when brushed.

8. Dark Lavender Chiffon Rose of Sharon

This variety has far more impressive flowers in a richer shade than the original Lavender Chiffon rose of Sharon – and that was pretty lovely to begin with! Don’t be beguiled by the beauty of this plant because it’s one tough cookie and copes with heat, humidity, drought, clay soil and even salt-laden winds. As a Proven Winners variety, I don’t need to tell you that it’s a reliable bloomer, and pollinators appreciate this summer-long source of nectar. Start this shrub off in a patio pot to enjoy those flowers up close then transplant into the ground as it can grow to 8-12 feet tall, though is easily kept smaller by pruning.

9. Summerlong Coral Agastache

If you love to share your garden with wildlife then Agastache mexicana ‘Balsumlora’, more commonly known as Summerlong Coral Agastache is a must. Living up to its name, it brings vibrant coral colors from April or May throughout summer into September in zones 7 to 10, which in turn attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Unlike most other agastache, this variety has a tidy habit, growing in a neat mound with a dense volume of flowering stems reaching just 22 inches high. This resilient drought-tolerant perennial has foliage with a gentle, pleasant scent, too.

10. Autumn Royalty Encore Azalea

Why anyone grows azaleas other than the Encore series, I don’t know! Bred to bloom from spring, all through summer into fall, this shrub couldn’t be easier to grow and it rewards your efforts richly with beautifully vibrant flowers month and month. Growing to 4-5 feet high and 4 feet wide in zones 6 to 10, the reblooming Autumn Royalty Encore Azalea is a fabulously low-maintenance choice for a front yard.

If You Need More Planting Space…

Chrysanthemums bring glorious color to fall containers – but when that first frost hits, the show is quickly over. Far better to plant cold-hardy beauties that will bring color all through fall but carry on looking good into winter. Whether you have patio planters, welcoming containers either side of your front door or want to make showstopper fall hanging baskets, these cold-season plants will flourish while everything else in your garden fades away.

Get your fall containers planted in early September while the weather is still warm enough to encourage strong growth, and all the plants will have the time to develop a good root system. Then, when temperatures start to drop and fall storms move in, you have strong plants that can handle whatever the weather throws at them.

From trailing pansies to ornamental kale, gracefully arching Carex leaves to intensely colored Heuchera foliage and the prettiest little cyclamen blooms, there are plenty of fabulous options to choose from. All with thrive in containers big or small, so you can choose to fill fall planters with just one variety or mix and match for a textural feast. As budget ideas to keep your yard looking good into fall, they're such an easy win. With a little deadheading, and a sheltered position in prolonged cold snaps, all these plants will shine through winter and get spring off to an early start, too.

1. Pansies

For easy color, pretty pansies are one of the finest cool-season container plants, but be savvy about which varieties you buy if you want blooms that keep on coming as the weather gets colder. While standard pansy varieties flower in fall, they’re not hardy so won’t last for long. Instead, choose winter-flowering pansies that have been bred to survive plummeting temperatures. As long as you plant these early enough in September, they’ll start blooming in fall and continue to spring. Cool Wave pansies, available from Trees (previously Fast Growing Trees) are a brilliant winter-flowering choice with exceptional hardiness and superfast growth to quickly fill a container with cheery blooms from October to May.

Another good choice is Plentifall pansies that flower from October to May. As well as growing upwards to around 8 inches, Plentiful pansies also boast trailing stems so they’ll spill over the edge of baskets and pots. Burpee stocks both the Plentifall Lavender Blue Pansies and the paler blooms of Plentifall Frost Pansies.

2. Ornamental Kale and Cabbage

One of the most unusual, eye-catching plants for autumn containers is ornamental kale or cabbage. These ornamental varieties have been bred for intense color which typically become more intense as temperatures drop. Ornamental kale tends to be a little more frilly and flouncy than cabbage, but both bring a tight rosette of leaves for incredible texture. Crane Pink, known as the cut-flower kale and available from Burpee, has even been bred to grow on 35-inch stems to resemble roses!

Cold-hardy and frost-tolerant, these plants are set to be a huge trend this fall, and make for a showstopper display, whether you choose to fill a planter with one variety or pop just one into a hanging basket.

3. Heuchera

If you want your container to stay looking good from fall into winter, it’s a smart move to use evergreen foliage to bring statement color, rather than relying solely on flowers. Coral bells (Heuchera) are technically semi-evergreen and keep their leaves through winter in milder climates, but varieties with leathery dark leaves tend to retain their colorful foliage better as temperatures fall, so are a good option for colder zones.

It’s a happy fact that darker-toned heuchera do better in sun and lighter, brighter foliage colors prefer shade, so they’re brilliant plants to bring contrast to a container. As well as a range of intense colors from lime green to amber, vibrant purple to almost black, coral bell varieties come in all sizes so pair the cultivar with your container capacity. Varieties that naturally grow in a neat mound, such as Caramel coral bells, available from Plant Addicts, work best in pots. For a smaller container or fall hanging baskets, choose heuchera hybrid heucherella (foamy bells) which is more compact but just as cold-hardy. Fun and Games Capture the Flag, also available from Plant Addicts, is a great choice.

Another option if you’re pushed for space in a hanging basket is to opt for a starter plant of any variety – and Heuchera ‘Wildberry’, with starter plants available from Walmart – is a fabulous deep purple – then move them into a bed or border next spring.

4. Heather

Compact varieties of perennial Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris) and autumn heather (Erica manipuliflora) are ideal for a fall container as they add texture as well as color and as they’re evergreen, look good all through winter, too. These slow growers need very little care and stand up well to harsh weather. Look for a variety that excels as temperatures fall, such as Beauty Ladies Scarlet Scotch Heather, available from Plant Addicts, whose red hues intensify as winter approaches.

5. Carex

Fully evergreen, sedges are grass-like perennial plants with a wonderfully ornate habit, their blades growing up and over to create an elegant arching effect. They're also one of the most easy-going plants that practically grow themselves. Use carex in the center of containers and pansies will grow up through the slender blades for a professional-looking display, or position them towards the planter edge so the leaves cascade over the rim.

The Evercolor carex series is a super choice for all containers, including hanging baskets, as they’re compact, low maintenance and grow at a manageable pace. They’ve been bred to be highly ornamental and there are all sorts of cultivars to choose from. Plant Addicts stocks a good range, including the harder-to-find Eversheen carex which has has a lime stripe down the center of its green leaves.

6. Hardy Cyclamen

A lovely little add to any fall container or hanging basket is hardy cyclamen. Look for Cyclamen hederifolium (ivy-leaved cyclamen) as this flowers in fall, while Cyclamen coum flowers a little later in winter and early spring, so planting a combination of the two will keep your planter filled with these sweet blooms from September to March.

You’ll find ready-to-flower plants in garden centers at this time of the year, and can often pick them up at grocery, big-box and hardware stores too. Watch that you don’t buy the florist’s cyclamen, Cyclamen persicum, though, as these are houseplants and will quickly die outdoors, so aren't the best plants for fall pots. They’re easy to tell apart: Cyclamen persicum have large, marbled heart-shaped leaves with scalloped or serrated edges; the foliage of Cyclamen coum is heart-shaped or round but with smooth edges, while Cyclamen hederifolium leaves are shaped like ivy.

7. English Ivy

The great thing about English ivy is that it’s happy to grow pretty much anywhere. While it can grow into a big plant, corralling it in a planter or hanging basket will control its vigorous nature and it’ll put all its efforts into throwing out a waterfall of long leafy stems to drape over the container sides.

English ivy is often sold as a houseplant, and these plants raised for a life indoors won’t be as hardy as those destined for garden use. So, make sure you look for garden-bound plants such as English ivy from Garden Goods Direct. For an even prettier effect, Hedera helix ‘Glacier’ is an English ivy cultivar with smaller gray-green with creamy-white, almost silver variegation. Glacier ivy is also available from Garden Goods Direct.

8. Bugleweed

A more unusual but no less fabulous spiller is Ajuga reptans, or bugleweed. Normally used as a groundcover plant, position this near the edge of a planter or hanging basket and its spreading habit means that stems that creep over the rim. But its biggest boast is the light it brings to any container as the leaves have a waxy coating that shimmers even in dappled sunlight. While bugleweed is hardy down to zone 4, it’s a semi-evergreen, only fully retaining its leaves in warmer zones 8-9. It’s a tough cookie, though, and quickly regrows after a blast of cold weather.

There’s a wide range of colored foliage to choose from. Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’, available from Garden Goods Direct, is super in a container as it has smaller, narrower foliage than most varieties in a classy chocolate-burgundy shade. More modern varieties boast particularly ornate leaves, such as Feathered Friends Pleasant Pheasant Ajuga, available from Plant Addicts. As well as foliage that takes on appealing copper tones, it’s been bred for variations in leaf shape for added texture.

What Potting Mix to Use for Fall Containers

While plants grow more slowly in fall and winter, you still need to fuel good growth if you want an abundant display in a small volume of soil. Use potting soil designed for containers such as Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, available from Amazon, which already has slow-release fertilizer mixed in. If you’re using a regular potting mix, add a broad-range slow-release granular plant food such as Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food, available from Walmart, to the soil at the recommended dose.

Ensure your planter has good drainage, and drill extra holes if needs be.

By all means enjoy planters filled with fall flowers that dazzle till the first frost. But by choosing plants that thrive in cooler weather for your fall containers, too, you’ll enjoy a display that lasts well beyond into winter. Using vibrant foliage such as heuchera as well as enthusiastic bloomers like pansies for color, adding texture with heather and the frilly leaves of ornamental kale, and forming interesting shapes with the spilling stems of English ivy or bugleweed, you’ll create containers that will still be looking good as the holiday season comes around, for no more effort than potting up those chrysanthemums.

So many of our favorite backyard blooms that we plant afresh every year have long-lived cousins that survive the winter and return, year after year, with lots more blooms for near-zero effort. If you’re wanting to cut down on the time and cost it takes to keep your garden looking good, swap those flower-once-and-die annuals for long-lived perennial plants that will bring abundant flowers for years to come.

Whether you like to grow lush borders or raise flowers for cutting, there are plenty of perennial versions of popular annual plants to choose from. From sweet peas and sunflowers to candytuft and coreopsis, foxgloves and poppies to baby’s breath and cosmos, there’s a perennial option that brings plenty of blooms for a lot less effort – and we all love flowering plants that practically grow themselves. For a lovely but low-maintenance garden, it's a no-brainer.

Which of these annual plants do you currently grow in your garden, that you could swap out for a perennial version that will flower for years to come?

1. Sweet Pea

If you're wondering what to grow in a low-maintenance garden, start your planting list with a perennial sweet pea. The annual sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is fabulous, granted, but the everlasting sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius) has lots to offer, too. Pest-resilient and happy to grow in poor soil, it flowers from mid-summer to the first hard frost and returns year after year in zones 5-9.

The only trade-off you’ll have to make is scent, as perennial sweet peas don’t have the wonderful fragrance of annual sweet peas. Everlasting sweet pea varieties range from white to a warm palette of pinks, magenta and red, and for the prettiest result, grow a mix for a standout color show all summer long.

2. Sunflower

Yes, it’s fun to plant sunflower seeds each spring and watch the plants grow sky-high – but it’s also lovely to sit back on the patio and see your perennial Helianthus pop up without any assistance from you! Most sunflowers are annuals (Helianthus annus), completing their life cycle in one season, but there are also a few perennial sunflower varieties that return year in, year out.

If you love the height of annual sunflowers and have the space, then Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower) is an excellent choice, growing 6-8 feet tall stems smothered in yellow flowers from midsummer to frost in zones 3-9. Explore the wonderful world of perennial Helianthus salicifolius, too, which brings the same sunny vibes on shorter stems. Autumn Gold Narrow-Leaved Sunflower, available from Plant Addicts, is a favorite, growing just 1-2 feet high with a similarly long blooming season in zones 5-10.

3. Poppy

There are so many beautiful annual poppy varieties that pop up and flower for a few weeks then die, from corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) to opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). Wonderful as their paper-thin petals are, the flowers can be fragile and fleeting. The perennial oriental poppy Papaver orientale, however, has a lot more punch in the flower power arena.

Because they’re fuelled by a far bigger perennial root system than their annual cousins, oriental poppies are bigger plants with bigger flowers. Papaver orientale flowers last far longer in a vase, too, produce robust seedpods that dry well, and their plump, fuzzy buds are adorable. There are all sorts of varieties to choose from, and Eden Brothers has a lovely oriental poppy selection to begin a journey into this world of flouncy petals and six-inch crepe-paper blooms.

4. Cosmos

Love the carefree flowers of cosmos? If you’re already growing annual Cosmos bipinnatus you’ll know just how many blooms a single plant can put out over the summer months. And there’s a perennial cosmos that's just as enthusiastic.

Cosmos atrosanguineus – the chocolate cosmos – is a dark, sensuous beauty that blooms all summer with rich, deep red petals that last well in a vase as well as borders. It’s hardy in zones 9-11 but as it grows to 30 inches high and is heat- and drought-tolerant, this perennial cosmos thrives in a container so you can easily move it to overwinter in a sheltered spot in cooler zones. As you'll discover, growing chocolate cosmos in a pot is a great move as you can easily place the blooms on a table or plant stand to enjoy their remarkable chocolate fragrance.

5. Foxgloves

The cottage-garden appeal of foxgloves is joyful; the hassle of sowing seed one year and having to wait till the following summer for a fleeting show of these sensational spires is not. The foxglove we most often grow in our gardens is Digitalis purpurea, a biennial that grows leaves in its first year, then flower spikes in its second year before dying. There are perennial foxgloves, however, that return year after year.

Digitalis grandiflora, the large yellow foxglove, lives for around five years and flowers from June to August in zones 3-8. Digitalis parviflora (chocolate foxglove) is a slightly shorter-lived perennial but an incredibly striking plant to add to a modern border or gravel garden. With tightly-packed flower spikes in an unusual rusty brown tone that looks fabulous paired with corten steel, chocolate foxglove seeds are available from Walmart and are suitable for zones 4-9.

6. Black-Eyed Susan

Why grow short-lived annual or biennial Rudbeckia hirta when you can grow long-lived perennial Rudbeckia fulgida and enjoy a reliable display of golden black-eyed Susan flowers for years to come?

There are plenty of varieties to choose from ranging from short-stemmed cultivars perfect for a pot to tall back-of-the-border plants. Perhaps the best of all is Rudbeckia fulgida ‘American Gold Rush’, named Perennial Plant of the Year in 2023 and reliably growing well-behaved mounds smothered with yellow daisies in zones 3-8. The blooms are beloved by pollinators and, as this variety has been bred to be exceptionally disease-resistant, keep on coming to the first frost.

7. Candytuft

You’re no doubt familiar with the annual Iberis umbellata, sown every spring to fill fronts of borders with white, pink or purple flowers through summer – but do you know the perennial candytuft, Iberis sempervirens? It does a similar job of bringing a carpet of flowers – though earlier, typically from March to June, and with white blooms – but also boasts a dense, evergreen mat of needle-like leaves thats act as year-round ground cover.

Because it has woody stems, this is a tough, reliable perennial in zones 3-8, heat- and drought-tolerant once established, and also does well cascading over the front of walls and raised beds.

8. Coreopsis

If you’re a fan of annual Coreopsis tinctoria and its pretty daisy-like flowers with yellow petals and darker centers, take a look at Coreopsis lanceolata. This perennial tickseed is native to North America with long-lasting spring blooms in zones 4-9, and lance-leaf coreopsis seeds are available from Eden Brothers.

Several cultivars have been bred from the wildflower for more dramatic, long-lasting blooms with the same tough nature and appreciation for poor soil, such as Coreopsis lanceolata ‘Sunburst’. Exceptionally heat- and drought-tolerant, it's as happy in a container as it is in the ground, and the flowers are easily dried, too.

9. Baby’s Breath

Annual Gypsophila elegans is such a useful plant in any garden, with clouds of tiny white flowers and gray-green leaves on airy stems. It only lasts a summer, though, so if you want to keep its elegant effervescence in borders, you need to replant every spring. There is, however, a perennial baby’s breath that reliably returns year after year, bringing that wonderful froth of petite blooms for far less effort.

There are various Gypsophila paniculata varieties but one of the most useful is Festival Star. It has fairly short stems, only reaching 18 inches, but they're smothered with tiny white flowers. Blooming from late spring, this sea of bijou blooms acts as the most fabulous coverage for dying bulb foliage, and it continues flowering into early fall in zones 3-9. Festival Star baby's breath has a long tap root so is drought-tolerant, you don’t need to deadhead it, and it spreads to two feet so one plant makes quite an impact.

10. Marigold

If you grow vegetables, you likely grow marigolds to attract beneficial pollinators and act as a sacrificial trap crop to lure aphids away from your precious veggie plants. While the annual French marigold (Tagetes patula) is easy enough to raise from seed every spring, the perennial Tagetes lemmonii works in a different way to benefit your veg patch, for far less effort.

Thanks to a concentration of oils in the foliage which emit a citrussy mint smell, Tagetes lemmonii deters pests and can mask the alluring fragrance of nearby crops. This Mexican bush or mountain marigold is hardy in zones 8-10 but many gardeners outside these zones grow it in pots so it's easilty moved to overwinter in a sheltered spot. As this shrub can grow 3-6 feet tall, growing it in a container also helps to keep the plant small, and the stems are easily pruned into a pleasingly bushy, rounded shape.

We all want healthy, productive hydrangeas that put on a gorgeous show with big clusters of multiple flowers, often in color-shifting shades that add to the magic. So when your hydrangea looks healthy and is leafy and green, but doesn’t produce very many flowers, it can be very frustrating. We tend to think of lazy blooming as a plant failure, but in reality, your shrub is likely just conserving energy after sustaining some sort of stress or a minor care mistake.

A disappointing season of blooms doesn't necessarily mean your shrub isn’t healthy or that it’s a lost cause. Targeted hydrangea care in early September can help you identify the issue and ensure next year is better. Whether you’re dealing with undersized flower heads, muted color shifts, sparse clusters, or a shrub that failed to produce a single flower bud, this month is critical if you want to turn things around. You can correct care mistakes, safeguard overwintering buds, and guarantee a heavy floral show next year if you take action now.

Timing is everything: as late summer turns into early fall, our beloved shrubs are undergoing a transition. While panicle (Hydrangea paniculata) and smooth (H. arborescens) varieties showcase their final colors, bigleaf (H. macrophylla), oakleaf (H. quercifolia), and mountain (H. serrata) types are setting next spring's flower buds. Taking action this month doesn't just address this year’s frustrations, but lays the foundations for a breathtaking show next year. So don’t give up on your lazy bloomer just yet. Here’s what you need to know…

Why are They Lazy Bloomers?

To solve this floral mystery, you must first pinpoint the specific type of hydrangea growing in your borders. Bigleaf, mountain, and oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood, which means the flower buds that will open next June and July are being formed right now on current summer stems. By contrast, panicles and smooth hydrangeas bloom on new wood, setting buds on fresh shoots produced in spring.

This critical distinction dictates every single move you make now, especially with your pruners. A mistimed trim on an old-wood variety risks snipping away next year’s entire flower show before it even has a chance to start. And if you pruned a bigleaf hydrangea in late summer or fall last year, that could explain why you got few or no flowers this year). So before you do anything, make sure you know exactly which hydrangea type you’re dealing with.

Late summer stress can frequently take a silent toll on bloom capacity. Prolonged heatwaves, intense afternoon sun, compacted clay, and accidental over-application of nitrogen-rich lawn fertilizers can force even the hardiest hydrangea into survival mode, prioritizing basic leaf survival over flower production. Regional hardiness plays a key role as well. Growers in northern USDA hardiness zones 4-6 may find late spring frosts zapped tender old-wood buds, while southern gardeners in zones 8-9 may have to contend with root stress and soil dehydration.

You can check to see if your soil is dehydrated with a simple diagnostic like the Soil Moisture Meter from Amazon, which is easy to use, doesn’t need a battery, and also identifies pH levels. Before diving into these fixes, it’s also a good idea to make sure you sanitize your bypass pruners with rubbing alcohol, like the brilliant Swan Isopropyl Alcohol from Walmart, or a light wipe of organic neem oil to reduce the risks of cross-contamination. Hopefully, the following fixes can help you understand what might have gone wrong with your blooms, and how to ensure they flourish and flower to their best next year.

1. Prune at the Right Time

Pruning a hydrangea at the wrong time of year is a leading reason for decreased flowering. When you prune matters, because bad timing means you might be trimming off the buds that become summer flowers. For old-wood hydrangeas, like bigleaf and oakleaf, prune lightly right after they’ve finished flowering using ultra-precise snips like the Corona Hydroponic Finger Snips from Amazon. Immediacy is key, or else you risk trimming off next year’s buds. Trim lightly for shape and to remove any dead, diseased or damaged stems.

A word of caution: depending on when they stop flowering, old-wood varieties can start to set their flower buds for the following year during September. Pruning in late fall risks removing newly formed buds and can leave you with fewer blooms next season, so please proceed with caution. If you think you have accidentally pruned at the wrong time this year, don’t panic. Allow the plant to drop its leaves naturally, and focus on winter protection so that remaining low buds can survive.

For new-wood panicle hydrangeas (like Limelight) and smooth varieties (like Annabelle), it’s best to prune in late winter or early spring while the shrubs are dormant. They won’t set buds until new growth appears in spring. Do not prune after the new growth appears, or you’ll take off the budding flowers. You can remove one-half to one-third of the plant during dormancy. Committing to correct timings now will help restore structural vigor and yield recovery within a single growing season.

2. Use the Right Fertilizer to Protect Flowers

If your hydrangeas are full of healthy, big leaves and lots of green growth, the issue might be your fertilizer. Products with a lot of nitrogen promote foliage growth over flowers. One common problem is using lawn fertilizer near shrubs. These products are high in nitrogen and can impact your hydrangea’s growth and flowering. High nitrogen forces rapid, sappy growth at the expense of floral development. In early September, high-nitrogen fertilizers are particularly dangerous. They stimulate tender green shoots that won’t have time to harden off before the first frost, leaving the plant vulnerable to winter dieback.

Where possible, keep lawn fertilizers well away from your hydrangea’s root zones. Then check the fertilizer you are using. If it’s high in nitrogen, stop using it. More foliage now will not help you get more flowers next year. Switch to a product with higher phosphorus (ideally 10-20-10) for the final feedings of the growing season. This balance will promote strong root growth and flower bud formation. For a gentle slow release of helpful nutrients, try Espoma Bone Meal from The Home Depot, which balances low nitrogen with targeted phosphorus for root and bud health. This nutrient pivot will dramatically increase flower bud density by the following May.

3. Manage Drought and Heat Stress

Late summer can get very hot and dry in many areas. High temperatures, intense afternoon sunlight, and inconsistent moisture in the soil can all cause significant stress. Hydrangeas react to this stress by diverting energy away from flower production and into simply surviving. Some characteristic signs of weather-related stress in hydrangeas include wilting, brown and crispy margins on leaves, scorched leaves, and premature leaf drop, as well as reduced flowering.

Smooth hydrangeas and bigleaf types are known to wilt under high sun, whereas panicle hydrangeas feature thicker, leathery leaves that tolerate full afternoon sun remarkably well if given consistent ground moisture. To reverse heat stress before fall begins in earnest, adjust your watering routine. Water regularly and deeply at the soil level. It’s better to water deeply every few days than shallowly every day. Check the first few inches of soil, and if they are dry, it’s time for a soaking.

Pair deep watering with a 2-3-inch (5-8cm) layer of shredded organic bark mulch. Best-selling Vigoro Shredded Wood Mulch from The Home Depot is exceptionally good value for forming that protective insulating blanket. Layer your mulch around the base, keeping a few inches clear of the main stems. Mulch helps keep more moisture in the soil and cools the roots. If your hydrangeas are getting full sun in the afternoon and showing signs of wilting, be sure to provide some late-day shade with a shade cloth or patio umbrella.

4. Check Light Levels

While afternoon light can be a little much for hydrangeas during a drought or extreme heat, too little light can also be a problem. The ideal setup for abundant flowers is bright light but protection from intense late-day sun. Exact light requirements will vary according to variety and region. As a general rule, bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas thrive in dappled morning sun with filtered afternoon shade, requiring 3-5 hours of direct morning light. In dense, deep shade, they will produce lovely green foliage but almost no flowers. Conversely, panicle hydrangeas require at least 6 hours of full sun daily to support their massive, cone-shaped blooms.

Check on your hydrangeas at different times of day to notice when they get sunlight and for how long. If you suspect that too much shade is the culprit for causing your hydrangea's lazy blooming habits, please avoid the temptation to dig up the plant during late summer heat. This can cause transplant shock, which can be fatal. Instead, use this month to evaluate canopy lighting and plan a successful transplant for early next spring while your shrub is fully dormant. If it is an option, lightly thinning overhead tree branches in early autumn to increase ambient light penetration, giving your shrub a sunlight boost to initiate flower buds for next year.

5. Protect Next Year’s Buds During Winter

If you grow old-wood hydrangeas, the buds that form later in the season must survive the winter in order to bloom next year. Winter bud mortality is a big reason why bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas can fail to bloom in zones 4-6. These are vulnerable to winter frost and freeze damage that could be a cause of reduced flowering in summer. As long as you grow hydrangea within its hardiness zone and have normal winter weather, this shouldn’t be an issue.

However, extreme and unusual cold weather or early and late frosts can cause damage. A late spring frost in April or May (after buds have begun to swell) can wipe out a season of flowers in a single night. If your hydrangea seems lazy now, perhaps a late frost is to blame? Sadly, you can’t undo this, but you can prepare for this winter to minimize ongoing problems. Avoid unnecessary late-season pruning, and keep your plants well-watered. Continue deep watering until the ground freezes, as a hydrated plant can resist frost desiccation far better than drought-stressed stems.

It’s also a good idea to cover bigleaf hydrangeas with landscape cloth if temperatures drop unusually low. AG Fabric Heavy Duty Plant Freeze Protection Fabric from Amazon can give peace of mind when those cold snaps threaten, protecting from drying winds as well as lightweight frosts. Alternatively, cover with a landscape cloth, a burlap sack or wrap, or even an old blanket, if temperatures drop unusually low. Keep your frost cloth handy in early spring to shield swelling buds during unexpected late freezing nights, ensuring that floral comeback in summer.

6. Improve the Soil

Poor soil conditions lead to an overall unhealthy plant as well as a lack of flowers. In poor soil, a plant will focus on survival, resulting in weak foliage and flower growth. Check your soil for compaction and drainage. Compaction can prevent water and nutrients from getting to roots, or cause water to pool around roots. Work in compost or other organic matter to reduce compaction. Using a biochar booster is a lovely way of assisting with better soil structure. Rosy Soil Biochar Booster from Walmart is perfect for helping to balance water retention and overall soil health.

There is a lot of talk about pH in the soil with hydrangeas. The acidity or alkalinity primarily affects flower color, not whether or not a plant will bloom, so this is not too important. It’s more important to focus on drainage, compaction, and nutrients. Don’t neglect overly sandy soils which drain quickly, leaching away valuable phosphorus and potassium before feeder roots can absorb them. Consider getting a soil test to find out if it is deficient in any particular nutrient, which you can then address.

September is an ideal month to improve soil structure. Gently topdress with a 1-inch (2.5cm) layer of organic compost or biochar-enriched soil conditioner. Earthworms and soil microbes will naturally pull this organic matter down into the root zone. This foundational soil care ensures your hydrangea emerges in spring with high vigor and massive blooming capacity. Remember, this year’s flower show might be drawing to a close, but there is always hope for next year. With these checks and changes, you have every reason to expect a better show next year.

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By the latter part of August, a lot of borders are looking tired. Salvia has started to go to seed, the catmint is yawning, and the yarrow has turned rust-colored. The instinct at this point is to write the season off and wait for some fall asters to carry the show. But if your beds and borders are starting to look floppy, brown, or seed-heavy as August winds down, don't throw in the towel just yet.

Those tired-looking perennials are mostly responding to their own seed set rather than to anything going wrong. But if you act fast (and I mean, fast!), then a late summer trim can give some of your favorite flowering perennials a whole new lease of life. Some thoughtful pruning and trimming this week can trick some of your border superstars into a late summer frenzy, so your backyard is filled with flowers into fall.

By removing spent flower heads and tattered foliage before September, you can trigger dormant buds to push out an extra wave of glorious late-season color. Taking an hour with your shears this week doesn't just recharge your yard’s curb appeal, either. It also strengthens root crowns and prevents weediness – and all without having to splurge on a brand new border full of plants. Here are the perennials you need to cut back to size right now.

Perennials That Love an August Chop

Timing trips people up more than technique does. But depending on where you live, perennials cut back this week should bounce back before September is out of the door. Before making your first cut, assess your garden's USDA hardiness zone and local frost dates. A late summer cut requires 4-5 weeks of growing weather before freezing temperatures arrive. Gardeners in northern regions (zones 3-5) should aim to prune this week. Growers in central and southern regions (zones 6-9) may have a little longer, with mild weather pushing fresh growth well into October.

Wait for a cool, overcast stretch if the forecast offers one. Even the most easy going perennials will struggle if short on water in a heat wave. Make sure you use clean, razor-sharp tools for this task. If you don’t have some super-sharp pruning shears, it’s well worth investing in something that will last, such as Corona Forged Steel Classic Cut Bypass Pruners from Amazon. These pruners ensure smooth cuts that heal within days.

Sanitation is equally vital. Late August is the peak season for fungal diseases like powdery mildew and leaf spot. Before starting, sterilize your shear blades using a quick spray of diluted Captain Jack’s Neem Max Oil Concentrate from Walmart to target thrips, spider mites and mildew spores. Alternatively, rub the blades with some isopropyl alcohol. Make sure you clean the blades between different perennial cuts, to prevent cross-contaminating plants.

Always check the crown of your plants before cutting. New green shoots at soil level mean there's something to regrow from. Avoid cutting woody-stemmed perennials like Russian sage or lavender in August, which require old wood to survive winter. And skip anything already crisped from drought. That plant needs water, not a pruning. Hydrate your plants deeply the day before pruning, and again after. Then you’re ready to get the following perennials back to their blooming best once more.

1. Catmint

Catmint (Nepeta × faassenii) can collapse in theatrical fashion by late August. By August the whole mound can look like something sat on it. Popular cultivars like Walker's Low are famous for their sprawling midsummer collapse. Once the first heavy wave of purple blooms finishes, stems can splay, exposing a bare, unsightly center. So shear the entire plant back by two-thirds, roughly to 6 inches (15cm), and don't be delicate about it. This will instantly restore a tight, mounded habit.

A pair of hedge shears handles the job faster than pruners, since precision isn't the point. Lightweight Fiskars PowerGear 2 Hedge Clippers, available from Amazon, are especially comfortable for tackling bushier, more expansive catmint shrubs without leading to hand fatigue. New growth shows within a week of warm weather. You’ll see a fresh carpet of fragrant, silver-green foliage, followed by a reliable second flush of lavender-blue flowers that lasts well into fall.

2. Perennial Salvia

Spent salvia spikes (Salvia nemorosa) often turn a dull brown that can hang on for weeks through midsummer. Salvia varieties like Caradonna and May Night carry dark purple flower spires that can become stiff, weathered and seed-heavy by August. Cutting spent stems all the way down to the low leaf rosette at the base forces the plant to send up secondary floral spikes from side nodes.

Cut low enough that the rosette sits in the light. Don’t be tempted to leave leafless stalks as it just slows down regrowth. For swift cuts, use Fiskars Titanium Micro-Tip Pruning Snips from The Home Depot which give a precise, clean action. Top-dress with a slow-release organic feed or a sprinkle of compost. By mid-September, you should see a second round of spikes, shorter than the first but a real bloom.

3. Yarrow

Even the most vibrant yarrow (Achillea millefolium) can look a little weary and rust-colored by August. The umbrella-like flower heads of Moonshine and Paprika dry into stiff, rusty-brown plates that linger indefinitely. Yarrow won't drop these on its own, so the plant can look finished long before it really is. Because yarrow thrives in lean soils, late-summer pruning also corrects leggy flopping caused by rich beds.

Cut spent flower stalks down to the feathery basal leaves. A second round will follow on shorter stems, thinner than the first but much tidier. After trimming spent stems, protect the shallow root zone by top-dressing with a thin inch (2.5cm) layer of aged compost or bark mulch, such as Back to the Roots Organic Premium Mulch from Amazon. Fresh stems should push up within a fortnight.

4. Cranesbill

Once cranesbill finishes its main flush, the foliage yellows and the plant spreads into a loose ring with a bald patch in the middle. Hardy cranesbill geraniums like Johnson's Blue, Rozanne and Ann Folkard often turn spotty and sprawling by late summer, leaving an open, hollow ring in the center. Cutting back to 2 inches (5cm) from soil level feels drastic, but it is the single best way to rejuvenate your clump.

Lop off all tattered foliage and spent stems down near soil level for a total reset. Don't panic when the plant looks like an empty patch of dirt for a week, as new leaves should emerge rapidly from the underground crown. Within 14 days, fresh, mound-shaped foliage emerges, often with late-season blossoms that last until frost. Water the bare crown deeply and apply a gentle liquid root tonic like Bloom City’s Organic Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer from Walmart to jumpstart growth.

5. Tickseed

Threadleaf tickseed types (Coreopsis verticillata) are the dependable rebloomers here, often carrying flowers to first frost after an August shear. However, deadheading coreopsis one bloom at a time is a fool's errand: there are hundreds! Attempting to individually deadhead threadleaf coreopsis cultivars like Moonbeam or Zagreb is nearly impossible, due to the sheer volume of tiny flower heads.

So, shear the plant back by about a third, straight across, hedge-trimmer style. This simple shearing removes spent seed heads, tidies up foliage, and triggers a massive secondary wave of starry flowers that blooms right up to a hard freeze. It might look alarming for the first 4-5 days, but it will fill back in. After trimming, give the sheared mound a gentle feed like Espoma Flower-tone from Amazon. This promotes root resilience and stimulates rapid bud formation within a couple of weeks.

6. Blanket Flowers

Blanket flower (Gaillardia × grandiflora) blooms itself into exhaustion, which is part of why so many clumps are short-lived. Gaillardia bloomers like Arizona Sun and Mesa Yellow produce red and gold blooms continuously through summer. If left unchecked, heavy late-summer seed production drains the plant's root reserves, causing this perennial to die out over winter. So an August cut isn't only about blooming. Taking the load off the crown gives the plant a better shot at coming through the winter.

Take the whole thing down to 6 inches (15cm), spent stems included. This redirects vital sugars back down into the root crown, ensuring winter hardiness while sparking a vibrant second wave of autumn flowers. Trim using bypass pruners, then top-dress plants with a rich, carbon-based amendment like Rosy Soil Biochar Plant Mix from Walmart to boost water retention and root strength. Flowers will return in 2-3 weeks and keep going until a hard freeze.

7. Spiked Speedwell

Veronica's spikes bloom from the bottom up. The vivid blues, pinks, or white spires of speedwell (Veronica spicata) open progressively from the base upward. By late August, the bottom of the spire will be turning brown and seed-heavy while the tip fades, giving the entire clump a really sorry and shabby look.

Rather than shearing the plant flat, cut each spent main spire back to just above a healthy set of lateral leaves. Side branches will emerge from these leaf axils to produce a secondary display of slender flower spires in about 3 weeks. After cutting back, apply a mild foliar treatment like Arber Organic Bio-Fungicide, available from Walmart. This will protect fresh cuts from late-summer humidity and leaf spot pathogens, giving your next flush the best shot at flourishing into fall.

8. Bee Balm

By late summer, high humidity and crowded stems can leave bee balm (Monarda didyma) coated in unsightly gray powdery mildew. Once the foliage turns crisp and white, deadheading alone won't restore the plant, which makes the issue of cutting back a very simple and satisfying one. Cutting the entire clump down to 2-4 inches (5-10cm) above the ground removes the diseased canopy completely.

Fresh, mildew-free green shoots will push up from underground rhizomes within 14 days, often yielding a secondary flush of blooms for migrating hummingbirds. You can be sure late season pollinators will work that flush as hard as the first. Spores can overwinter on fallen leaves, though, so the cleanup matters as much as the cut itself. Bag up cuttings using sacks like GardZen 3-Pack Garden Bags from Amazon, which are super easy to store and will carry you through plenty more autumnal litter.

Shop Late Season Bloom Companions

Making the right cuts is guaranteed to give you more flowers for free, but if you’d like an abundance of fall splendor, these late summer perennials can help you add a splash of fresh zing and texture to transitional beds and borders. These hand-picked selections are built to settle in fast, hold their ground in late heat, and deliver effortless, high-impact blooms that will keep your borders bright right through to first frosts.

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Few plants earn their place in a yard quite as elegantly as ornamental grasses, as landscape designers well know. These elegant grasses bring movement, texture, winter interest and a welcome sense of ease – some of the ingredients designers use to make planting feel intentional rather than simply filled in. August is an especially useful moment to spot what your garden lacks, whether that's privacy, a softer path edge, late-season color or connectivity – all of which can be stylishly solved with the right ornamental grass.

The design trick is to match the best ornamental grass to the job. Tall, upright grasses will screen an awkward view; blue grasses cool off a fiery color scheme; frothy grasses bring together an otherwise disjointed border. Landscape designers also use grasses where flowers cannot deliver: foliage adds structure from spring onwards, seedheads catch low fall light, and many retain their good looks through winter.

These 10 designer-favored grasses will help give any yard a more polished, professional feel, whatever its size or style. Each solves a particular design challenge, from blocking a neighbor's view to lifting a shady border or making a dry front yard feel purposeful. And don't fret: these are all non-invasive ornamental grasses, and these very well-behaved choices sill stay where they're planted so you can create a designer-worthy result with confidence this season.

1. Best Grass for Privacy: Totem Pole Switchgrass

• Zones 4-9
• Full sun
• Flowers August-October
• Grows to 6' high and 30" wide

Panicum virgatum ‘Totem Pole’ is the designer’s elegant answer to a neighbor’s all-too-visible window. Its dramatically upright habit creates a tall, leafy screen with plenty of softness and movement, but without swallowing the whole border. Stylish privacy plants to screen your garden are a great alternative to a privacy screen, and this is the best ornamental grass for privacy. Just tuck a row of these ornamental grasses beside a patio, use it to line a property boundary, or plant a small group to turn an exposed sitting area into a cosy, private retreat.

This is a clumping switchgrass so it makes a steadily fuller crown rather than sneaking across the bed underground. Give it full sun – six or more hours of direct light – and average soil; switchgrass is also more forgiving of clay than many ornamental grasses. Water regularly during its first year while roots establish, then leave the stems in place over winter for a lovely pale, airy living screen. In late winter, cut the clump back to 4-6 inches before fresh growth begins. Switchgrass Totem Pole plants are available from Plant Addicts.

2. Best Grass for Softening Hard Landscaping: Undaunted Ruby Muhly Grass

• Zones 5-9
• Full sun
• Flowers August-October
• Grows to 24" high and wide

Designers love to use Undaunted ruby muhly grass (Muhlenbergia reverchonii ‘Undaunted’) to take the edge off hardscaping, so this is one of those divine low-water plants that soften hard landscaping without all the hard work. Plant this ruby muhly grass beside a patio, driveway, retaining wall or path and its fine foliage and airy fall flowers will create a soft, almost gauzy transition between paving and planting. For maximum designer vibes, plant it in a loose drift of three, five or more, allowing the individual mounds to mingle into one soft, billowy layer. The late-season pink-to-ruby plumes are a gorgeous bonus, particularly when low afternoon sun shines through them, and this cold-hardy alternative to classic pink muhly thrives down to USDA Zone 5.

Undaunted ruby muhly grass is available from Wilson Bros Gardensand is a dense, well-behaved grass, not a runner, so will stay where you put it. Give it full sun and well-drained soil; if your soil is heavy, plant slightly raised to keep water away from its roots in winter. Water deeply and regularly during its first season, then only occasionally once established. In late winter, trim the old foliage back to about 4 inches before new growth appears.

3. Best Grass for Border Movement: Brush Strokes Little Bluestem

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers August-October
• Grows to 36" high and 24" wide

‘Brush Strokes’ little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Brush Strokes’) gives sunny borders the easy, breeze-catching movement designers love, without the bulk or roaming habit of larger grasses. Its tidy upright clumps weave neatly among perennials such as salvias, while slender blue-green blades slowly turn a beautiful wine-red and copper as the season unfolds.

This native grass stays where it's planted, forming a neat tuft rather than spreading through the bed. Give it full sun and well-drained, ordinary-to-dry soil; shade is what makes little bluestem flop. Skip the fertilizer, water it while it settles in, then enjoy its tawny stems and bristly seedheads through winter before cutting it back in late winter. ‘Brush Strokes’ little bluestem plants are available from Plant Addicts.

4. Best Grass for a Hot, Dry Yard: Common Blue Grama

• Zones 3-10
• Full sun
• Flowers June-September
• Grows to 24" high and wide

Ornamental grasses offer some of the best drought-tolerant plant choices, and common blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) proves a climate-resilient front yard can still be full of personality. This compact native grass forms low blue-green tufts topped in summer with wonderfully quirky, eyelash-like seedheads and is ideal for gravel gardens, curb strips and xeriscape schemes. Plant it in loose drifts for full on designer effect.

A small, clumping grass, common blue grama plants are available from Plant Addictsand deliver a naturalistic look without wandering through the bed. It thrives in full sun, heat, wind, and fast-draining soil, and is one of the best choices for a spot that bakes in summer. Water until rooted in, then water only during prolonged drought.

5. Best Grass for a Cooling Effect: Blue Fescue

• Zones 4-8
• Full sun 
• Flowers June-July
• Grows to 18" high and 24" wide

Blue fescue grass, often sold as ‘Elijah Blue’ (Festuca glauca), is the landscape designer’s little color-cooling trick for borders full of fiery reds, oranges, and yellows. Its icy blue, spiky mounds make those warm shades pop even more, while adding a crisp, modern rhythm along a path or at the front of a border.

Each blue fescue grass forms a neat, non-running tuft, so try planting five or seven together, spaced about 12 inches apart, for a deliberate, repeated look. This little lovely appreciates full sun and excellent drainage so it’s perfect for gravel gardens, raised beds and sandy soil. Comb out any dead foliage in early spring and replace individual plants that may become bare in the center after a few years. Blue fescue plants are available from Plant Addicts.

6. Best for Brightening a Border: ‘Hello Spring’ Feather Reed Grass

• Zones 4-8
• Full sun or partial shade
• Flowers June-July 
• Grows to 4' high and 2' wide

‘Hello Spring’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Hello Spring’) is a designer’s answer to a border that feels a little too dark or heavy. Its bright variegated foliage catches the light, while its narrow, upright shape adds a fresh vertical accent. While it's happy in sun, it flourishes with only six hours of sunshine a day, so you can thread it through a border that moves from partial shade into sun for an instant luminous lift.

This feather reed grass is a disciplined clump-former so it stays put rather than wandering into neighboring plants. Give it reasonably moist, well-drained soil and water in dry spells, especially during its first year. Leave its soft, dried plumes standing over winter, then cut them back in late winter before new shoots appear. ‘Hello Spring’ feather reed grass plants are available from Plant Addicts.

7. Best Grass for Shade: ‘Aureola’ Japanese Forest Grass

• Zones 5-9
• Part shade to full shade
• Flowers July-August
• Grows to 3' high and wide

‘Aureola’ Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’) is the designer’s way of making a shady path, set of steps or tucked-away seating spot feel brighter and more inviting. Its arching gold-striped leaves spill gently over the edge of a border, catching every bit of available light and naturally drawing your eye onward. Repeat it at intervals along a path or beneath shrubs for a subtle golden thread that makes the whole space feel more connected.

Unlike a grass that spreads by runners, ‘Aureola’ forms a low, graceful clump that slowly becomes more generous with time. Plant ‘Aureola’ Japanese forest grass, available at Nature Hills, in partial or dappled shade, in soil that stays moist but drains freely; hot afternoon sun can scorch its foliage. Water in dry spells, especially during its first year, and cut back the old leaves in late winter before fresh spring growth emerges.

8. Best Grass for Adding a Connecting Airy Layer: Golden Dew Tufted Hair Grass

• Zones 4-9
• Full sun to part shade
• Flowers July-September
• Grows to 3' high and wide

Golden Dew tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’) is perfect when a border has lovely individual plants but still feels a little disjointed, or you have an awkwardly-shaped garden and wish to tie its various parts together. Landscape designers use its cloud-like sprays of tiny golden-green flowers to float between bolder shapes, cleverly softening the join between perennials, shrubs, and hard edges. It's particularly beautiful planted in small groups among hostas, heucheras, ferns and other plants with larger leaves.

Tufted hair grass is a tidy clump-former, not a runner, so it gives that airy meadow effect while staying beautifully contained. It is happiest in sun or part shade with reasonably moist, well-drained soil, and it is more forgiving of heavier ground than many ornamental grasses. Water during dry periods in its first season, then leave the faded flower stems for winter texture before cutting the clump back in late winter. ‘Goldtau’ tufted hair grass plants are available from Sunny Valley Farms.

9. Best Grass for an Informal Vibe: Prairie Dropseed

• Zones 3-8
• Full sun
• Flowers August-October
• Grows to 18" high and wide

Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) is the designer’s choice for creating a graceful transition from a tidy border to a looser meadow planting. Its fine, arching foliage forms low, well-behaved clumps that work beautifully repeated in a ribbon, linking your border planting with prairie-style favorites such as coneflowers, asters, and black-eyed Susans. And although this brings a relaxed, informal vibe, it's still a very well-behaved ornamental grass.

The real magic happens in late summer, when Prairie dropseed's airy flower stems release a warm, lightly sweet fragrance, often compared to coriander or buttered popcorn. This clumping native stays put, thrives in full sun and well-drained ordinary-to-dry soil, and needs regular watering only in its first season. Leave its foliage standing for winter texture, then cut it back in late winter. Prairie dropseed plants are available from Plant Addicts.

10. Best Grass for a Purple Color Scheme: Twilight Zone Little Bluestem

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers September-October
• Grows to 5' high and 3' wide

Landscape designers are favoring purple palettes right now, and filling borders with ravishing purple blooms. And their secret to keeping the purple color scheme going long after the flowers have peaked is the unusual ornamental grass, ‘Twilight Zone’ little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Twilight Zone’). Its cool blue foliage is brushed with purple in summer, then deepens into rich mauve, violet, and burgundy in fall. Use a few clumps through the middle of a border to echo dark dahlias, purple-leaved shrubs and plum-toned sedums.

This North American native grass forms a tall, tidy clump and is best placed in the middle or back of a sunny border as full sun brings out its richest coloring and helps it stay upright. Water regularly in its first season, then allow the soil to dry slightly between deep waterings. Leave the stems in place over winter for their handsome silhouette, cutting them back in late winter before new growth begins. ‘Twilight Zone’ little bluestem plants are available from Plant Addicts.

Black-eyed Susans are a late-season essential but if you’ve got the classic Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ in your garden, you need to know that there are other varieties that bring more flowers, for much longer. This popular perennial was introduced way back in 1949 and since then, plant breeders have created cultivars and hybrids that are more drought tolerant, heat tolerant and disease resistant, with more abundant blooms over a longer period.

So, if you’re looking for low-maintenance late-season plants that will flower for months into fall, these modern black-eyed Susan varieties are a no-brainer. Whether you want to enjoy the daisy-like blooms yourself, provide a late-season source of nectar for pollinators, or grow a feast of seeds for your garden birds, these robust plants will give you far more flowers for far less effort.

And let's be clear: black-eyed Susan Goldsturm is still a fabulous plant – but these black-eyed Susans are better. Plant one in your garden and see for yourself.

1. Best for Disease Resistance: Black-Eyed Susan American Gold Rush

One of the biggest issues with black-eyed Susans is that they’re vulnerable to Septorial leaf spot, a fungal disease that causes foliage to wither and die, affecting the plant’s vigor and cutting the flowering season short. However, Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’ is virtually immune to this common disease because its slightly hairy leaves stop moisture from sitting on the foliage, so avoiding the conditions that the fungal spores require.

Named Perennial Plant of the Year in 2023 by the Perennial Plant Association, the excellent disease resistance of ‘American Gold Rush’ means its foliage stays flawless even in humid conditions, and it reliably flowers from July through September and often till the first frost. Growing 1 foot high and 1-2 feet wide in zones 3-8, black-eyed Susan ‘American Gold Rush' is available from Plant Addicts.

2. Best for Flower Density: Black-Eyed Susan Little Goldstar

Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Little Goldstar’ boasts the highest bloom density relative to its size, its 16-inch stems smothered with yellow flowers from July to October. It’s estimated that a single plant can produce over 80 blooms, bringing impressive flower power to borders and pots in zones 4-9.

This compact plant grows to 2 feet wide and stays neat, its sturdy, shorter stems resisting the usual late-season black-eyed Susan flop. Highly disease-resistant and drought-tolerant once established, black-eyed Susan ‘Little Goldstar’ is available from Nature Hills.

3. Best for Temperature Extremes: Black-Eyed Susan Glitters Like Gold

Rudbeckia ‘Glitters Like Gold’ looks very similar to Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’, growing 2-3 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide, but it’s been specifically bred to handle hot, humid summers. It’s also hugely cold-hardy down to -40°F so it can handle life at both ends of the temperature scale in zones 3-9.

With strong disease resistance to Septoria leaf spot and sturdy stems that don’t flop over, this boasts more flowers that bloom for longer than ‘Goldsturm’ too. Black-eyed Susan ‘Glitters Like Gold’ plants are available from Nature Hills.

4. Best for Wildlife: Black-Eyed Susan Deam’s

If you’re looking for a black-eyed Susan for a wildlife meadow or garden, then Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii is the one for you. Not a modern cultivar but native to parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, black-eyed Susan 'Deam's' nevertheless holds not just the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit but also its Plants for Pollinators recommendation.

The dark central cones of this clump-forming perennial are particularly rich in nectar for pollinators, and produce a heavy load of seed to feed finches through winter. As a native, it’s very adaptable and grows in pretty much any well-drained soil and, though it’s highly drought resistant once established, the trick to lots more fall flowers is to give it a good drink once a week. If you deadhead, it will keep flowering from July to October, though be sure to leave the last flush of blooms intact to form seedheads and keep your garden goldfinches happy. Growing to 2-3 feet high and 1-2 feet wide in zones 4-9, black-eyed Susan Deam’s is available from Plant Addicts.

5. Best for Flower Color: Black-Eyed Susan ‘Blackjack Gold’

While the yellow petals and dark centers of most black-eyed Susans are joyful enough, the color of Rudbeckia triloba ‘Blackjack Gold’ is particularly intense. Because of its tall but narrow habit (the plant grows 3 feet tall and 1 foot wide in zones 3-8), you can pack plenty of these into a border, too, for a real hit of saturated color.

The flowers are smaller but the densely branched stems carry a profusion from July to October, and those golden petals are enhanced by striking central cones and sturdy stems that carry a red tone.

While Rudbeckia fulgida are long-lived, clump-forming perennials and a pretty-much permanent addition to your garden, Rudbeckia triloba is a shorter-lived perennial but reliably (and gently) self-seeds so you'll never be without it. Black-eyed Susan ‘Blackjack Gold’ plants are available from Plant Addicts.

6. Best for Containers: Black-Eyed Susan Viette’s Little Suzy

This compact dwarf variety grows to 12-18 inches high and wide so it’s perfect for a pot. Rudbeckia fulgida Viette’s Little Suzy is heat- and drought-tolerant once established so can handle the more erratic environment of life in a container, and copes well with both humidity and heavy rainfall. This bonny black-eyed Susan has exceptional disease resistance, too, to flower through summer into early fall, making it one of the best perennials for patio pots.

For low-maintenance pots to pretty up your patio or deck, you won’t do better than this little lovely, and it attracts bees and butterflies, too. Black-eyed Susan Viette’s Little Suzy plants are available from Garden Goods Direct.

7. Best for Low-Maintenance: Black-Eyed Susan ‘Treasure Trove’.

Taller black-eyed Susans can require staking to stop them flopping over once fall weather arrives, but not Rudbeckia ‘Treasure Trove’. This is one of those wonderful low-maintenance flowering plants that practically grow themselves. Though it grows to 2-3 feet high and wide, it has a neat, bushy habit with heavily-branched stems, so supports itself well. And yes, those branching stems mean a massive volume of flowers!

It has strong Septoria leaf spot resistance, handles summer heat in zones 4-9, usually resists nibbles from hungry deer and rabbits, and once established, only needs watering in prolonged dry spells. So pretty much all you need do is an occasional deadhead if you want it to keep blooming from July to October. Planted with other low-maintenance heroes like daylilies and goldenrod, this is a great choice for beginner or busy gardeners alike, and black-eyed Susan ‘Treasure Trove’ plants are available from Plant Addicts.

Lavender is a staple in my garden, and its bright purple flowers and fragrant foliage are a source of ongoing joy. However, this month, lavender plants are likely transitioning from peak bloom to seed set. But that doesn’t mean you need to take a step back and leave these gorgeous perennials to it. This is an ideal window in which to prevent your plants from getting too leggy or woody, and lay the foundations for an even more fragrant, abundant display next year.

Although lavender thrives in full sun, the heat of late summer can cause the plants to struggle unless you care for them properly. Turn a blind eye to their needs now, and there is a chance woody lower stems could harden without producing replacement growth, leading to unsightly, splitting centers by next spring. However, as anyone who grows lavender will know, excess moisture and humidity can also challenge your plants. So you’ve got to take the weather into account, as well as variety.

These easy August care steps will help you prevent the dreaded leggy burnout, while also ensuring your lavender doesn’t become vulnerable to late summer rots. A few moments of the right care right now can also set you up for extra flowering and fragrance next time. So don't let your lavender go leggy as summer wanes. These quick August tasks will protect silver foliage, prevent root rot, and set you up for more lush, heavily scented blooms when the warm weather returns next year.

Key Lavender Tasks in August

If you’ve grown lavender for a while, you know not all species have the same growth cycle. Some rebloom in fall under the right circumstances, but many do not. And of course, not all regions have the same summer weather, which has some bearing on the tasks below. That said, most lavender types like heat and minimal water. This means cool or wet summers can be a challenge. To keep things interesting, too much heat and drought can also be a problem. English lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia) can struggle with excessive humidity, while Spanish types thrive in warmer zones but have a shorter lifespan.

Before picking up your shears, keep species type in mind, as well as microclimate, and whether they are growing in open soil or containers. English lavender, French and Spanish lavender (L. stoechas), and hybrid lavandins (L. x intermedia) behave differently in late summer. English types are cold-hardy (in USDA hardiness zones 5-8) and appreciate some late-August shaping, while tender Spanish types (zones 7-10) can react poorly to aggressive late-season pruning in wet or humid regions.

Container-grown lavender love requires extra care this month. While ground plants can send roots deep to escape surface drought, potted lavender doesn’t have the same options. Container walls absorb high heat, and in humid regions, stagnant air around dense foliage can trap moisture, creating ideal conditions for root rot.

It’s a good idea to check moisture levels at the root level with a moisture reader like the XLUX Soil Moisture Meter, available on Amazon. If your potting soil has become compacted, it’s also wise to add some gritty Back to the Roots Organic Succulent and Cacti Mix, available from Walmart, with ingredients like perlite and dolomitic limestone, which is great for drainage. This will help set you up for the tasks below.

1. Deadhead Faded Flower Spikes

Generally, French lavender is a long-blooming variety with flowers from spring through fall in frost-free regions. But some English cultivars (like Gros Bleu and Buena Vista) can bloom a second time in early fall if you deadhead the faded flower spikes in August. So, if you have one of these cultivars, deadheading faded flowers toward summer’s end can prompt fresh growth. However, if your area gets early fall frosts, hold off. New growth can get damaged by an unexpected frost.

Mid-August is basically the deadline to trim off your spent flower spikes before they turn brown and seed out. But it is hugely dependent on your lavender variety, as well as your local climate and anticipated fall frost arrival. If you do deadhead, snip spent flower stalks at the point where they emerge from soft fresh foliage. To harvest long, fragrant stems without tearing tender plant tissue, use sharp pruners such as Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips with Softgrip Handles, available at The Home Depot.

This is a lovely opportunity to harvest spikes for drying, sachets, or culinary use. Gather your stems in a tightly woven basket, like the Hittomen Handmade Rattan Bread Baskets from Amazon, which are a nice shape and hold plenty of blooms. You can expect to see fresh aromatic growth within 10-14 days of deadheading.

2. Clear Debris and Refresh Grit Mulch

Clean-up is beneficial for all plants and can particularly help lavender. So remove the dead leaves and pull out the debris from the entire area. This will improve the airflow around the lavender, and will also reduce the number of pests that like to live there. To clear out dead foliage and debris trapped inside dense branch joints, clear the base using durable protective wear like Wells Lamont Cowhide Leather Work Gloves from Amazon, which balance a good fit with robust texture.

A plant like lavender needs extra help in a humid climate to guard against rot and moisture damage. You can reduce the chances now by clearing away any mulch near the plant. Remember that mulch holds moisture in the soil, and that is the opposite of what your lavender needs at the moment. Other perennials may thrive under damp, wood-chip mulches, but lavender reacts poorly to trapped humidity.

Replace any damp wood mulch near your lavender with a 2-inch (5cm) layer of crushed pea gravel, coarse grit, or horticultural sand, scattered around the base. A clean, reflective mineral layer, such as Vigoro Mini Marble Chip from The Home Depot, can help to reflect heat back up into the lower lavender canopy, keeping root crowns dry and preventing soil splashback. Trimming nearby weeds also helps.

3. Master Midsummer Hydration

Giving your lavender the right water this month is a little tricky. It has adapted to dry conditions and is drought-tolerant. But it still needs some water, especially in very hot phases. If your climate is hot and dry in August, set up a once-weekly irrigation schedule. Water at the base, and allow soil to dry thoroughly before the next session. But if you live in a climate that gets lots of rain in August, you don’t need to (please read this as shouldn’t) provide any extra water. Too much makes a lavender unhappy and can result in loss of your plant.

Young, newly planted lavenders require regular watering during their first summer to establish a deep root system. By contrast, mature plants have deep taproots that cope better in dry conditions. Frequent, shallow surface watering encourages weak, surface-level roots and keeps the upper root crown damp, leading to fungal dieback. So when you do water, water deeply, and definitely not daily. Don't spray water overhead onto silver foliage during peak afternoon sun, as wet foliage combined with high heat causes leaf scorch and humidity rot.

To deliver water directly to the places that need it, stick with a ground-level watering vessel like the Yowon Gold Long Spout Watering Can from Amazon, which has a low angle of watering. If container plants suffer from hydrophobic, dried-out soil, soak the base in a shallow tray to allow slow absorption but reduce the risk of rots.

4. Give Plants a Late Summer Shaping

For species and cultivars that won’t rebloom, August is a good time to prune your lavender, but time is of the essence. Wait until all of the blooms have faded, so plants have the chance to complete their full flowering cycle. When you prune, think in terms of a dome shape. Trimming into a dome shape will promote healthy growth. Snip back leggy stems above leaf sets, and prune back about a third of the canopy (around 8 inches or 20cm) into a neat shape. Never cut into older wood, since most old wood will not regrow. You are safe if you see green leaves below the cut.

When shaping large, established lavender shrubs quickly and evenly, use lightweight hedge shears like the Corona ClassicCUT Hedge Shears from The Home Depot, which have nice contoured handles for good grip and comfort. For precision hand-shaping on more compact varieties, use the exceptional Fiskars Bypass Pruners from Amazon, which offer lifelong precision cutting. Proper shaping yields a compact, silver-green evergreen mound that retains its structure through winter.

French and Spanish lavenders need a different approach. These are identifiable by their tufted flower spikes. They flower in late spring in warmer zones and early summer in colder zones, and can keep blooming into fall. However, they are less hardy than English lavenders and you need to be gentle. They need a light foliage trim only, as heavy pruning leaves them vulnerable to winter cold. Limit your snipping to frequent deadheading and lightly shaping after individual flush cycles.

5. Propagate Semi-Ripe Cuttings

Late August presents an ideal window for taking semi-ripe cuttings from healthy lavender bushes. Take these semi-ripe cuttings from this year’s growth, where the stem base is firm and woody, but the tip remains flexible and green. Rooting cuttings from your favorite cultivars allows you to create duplicate plants for garden borders or container displays next spring without spending a dime. This is one of the loveliest lavender tasks to do in August to boost next year’s blooms.

Take 3-4-inch (8-10cm) side shoots from non-flowering stems for the highest rooting success rate. Heel off side shoots by gently pulling them downward off the main stem so a small piece of bark (the heel) remains attached. Strip the lower leaves off the bottom 1.5 inches (4cm) of the cutting to expose the leaf nodes, which are rich in rooting hormones. You can stimulate root development if you dip cuttings in Garden Safe TakeRoot Rooting Hormone, available from Walmart, which is very reliable.

Insert your prepared cuttings into a gritty, free-draining propagation mix. If yours feels a little on the squidgy side, then add some perlite, like Sta-Green Organic Perlite from Lowe’s, or some coarse sand. Cuttings should form strong root systems within 4-6 weeks, ready to overwinter in a protected frame or cold greenhouse. Keep them shaded, and maintain light moisture. Don't take cuttings from heavily flowered stems, as they will lack the energy needed to form new root systems.

Shop Lavender Care Essentials

Maintaining a neat, fragrant, and heavy-blooming lavender patch comes down to patience, observation, and a few targeted tools, high-drainage amendments, and protective extras. These care tips will stand you in good stead, but make sure you have the best kit to hand. Here are a few high-impact essentials for late-summer lavender care.

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August feels like the wrong month to be putting seed in the ground. For most vegetables, it is. Perennial wildflowers run on a different clock – many of them need a long cold, damp spell before they will germinate at all. That is exactly what happens to seed left sitting outside from now through March.

Direct sown seeds handle that process unassisted. No refrigerator space, no damp paper towels sealed in a bag. The tradeoff is patience. A few of these bloom their opening summer, though plenty spend year one on roots and only turn up properly the season after.

Perennial Seeds Worth Scattering This Month

Everything below takes cold and wet without complaint, which is the main thing to ask of anything left outdoors from September on. Zones listed apply to established plants, and seedlings in their first winter are more fragile than that.

1. Purple Coneflower

Coneflower seed does better sown thick than sown carefully. Germination runs uneven even under decent conditions, so scattering more than seems reasonable is standard. A hand-powered spreader from Home Depot throws it further and more evenly than a fist can. Hardy through zones 3 to 9, it likes sun and soil that drains. Heavy clay that stays wet all spring rots the crowns early on. First-year plants stay low and leafy. Flowers turn up the second summer, then keep arriving for years with hardly any input.

2. Black-Eyed Susan

Not much colonizes bare dirt faster. Black-eyed Susan is short-lived, usually behaving like a biennial across zones 3 to 7. It reseeds freely enough that a patch renews itself with no replanting. Surface-sow it. The seed needs light, and burying it is the single most common reason a scattering fails. Thin mineral soil works better here than a rich bed. Think of it as the crop that holds a spot while everything slower makes up its mind.

3. New England Aster

By the time asters open, most of the meadow has already called it a year. That late bloom is the point. It also lands as monarchs move through much of the country. Zones 4 to 8 covers most of the range. New England aster gets tall – 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5m) is normal – and flops over when the soil is too rich. Seed dropped on packed sod mostly washes away. Open the surface with a bow rake from Walmart, then scatter. That gives it somewhere to lodge.

4. Butterfly Weed

Moving this one rarely ends well, which is the argument for scattering it where it will stay. Butterfly weed sends down a deep taproot early and resents disturbance after that. These are best suited for zones 3 to 9. Dormancy breaks only after a properly cold, damp stretch. A sowing that sits out all winter tends to beat anything attempted in spring. Progress above the surface looks slow that opening season. Push a few marking flags from Amazon in around the patch, because the seedlings are easy to mistake for weeds come April.

5. Lanceleaf Coreopsis

Lean soil and full sun. There is not much else on the list for this one. Lanceleaf coreopsis is happy anywhere from zone 4 to zone 9 and often flowers its debut season, filling the gap while slower species are still working underground. Once settled, it takes over the reseeding itself. Deadheading is arguably counterproductive here, since letting seed fall is how a stand thickens up. Drought barely registers. Give it the driest strip on the property.

6. Wild Bergamot

The smell arrives before the flowers do. Crushed bergamot foliage gives off a sharp oregano-mint note. That oil is a good part of why deer walk past it. Rated for zones 3 to 9, it creeps by rhizome once established. Gaps get filled rather than held as one tidy clump. Surface-sow this one too. Powdery mildew turns up on crowded plants in humid summers, so spread the seed over a wide patch instead of concentrating it in a corner.

7. Blanket Flower

Poor soil is a feature here, not a problem to fix. Blanket flower burns out fast in rich, damp beds. It hangs on for years in the gritty stuff nothing else will touch – roughly zones 3 to 8. Light triggers germination, so press the seed into contact with the surface rather than covering it over. Bloom tends to come the same year from an August sowing. The plants stay low and wide, useful along a path edge where anything taller ends up leaning across.

8. Wild Blue Indigo

Patience is the price of admission here. Wild blue indigo (also known as false indigo and baptisia) can take three or four years to flower from seed, which puts a lot of people off. Whatever comes out the other side often outlives the gardener who scattered it. It sits comfortably in zones 3 to 9. That seed coat is hard enough to need a winter outdoors to soften, and the taproot runs deep enough that relocating a plant later is off the table. Nick the seed lightly before sowing to hedge the bet.

Dahlias are well known for putting on a spectacular show. By August, many varieties are bursting into vibrant parades of unabashed beauty. But even though they are late-season bloomers, and can theoretically delight well into fall, continued flowering is by no means a sure thing as fall approaches. Heat stress, mildew, and pests can all have an impact, not to mention just keeping those blooms standing upright.

Depending on when yours started blooming (not to mention your local climate), even the most prolific dahlia varieties might be starting to fade or flop by the tail end of summer. They’ve been hard at work putting out new growth, buds, and flowers, after all. While expending all that energy, the various perils of the season can take their toll. So while this is their prime time, it doesn’t mean you can take a step back.

The good news is that it’s really easy to stay on top of things, so your dahlias keep dazzling for as long as possible. Whether you grow sprawling varieties, pompons, or compact patio cultivars, devoting 20 minutes this week to a few thoughtful tweaks will encourage more buds and hence more beautiful dinnerplate blooms. Here’s how to keep your darlings healthy, upright, and flush with color right up to first frost.

Quick Dahlia Tasks in August

Before jumping into these easy wins, take a few minutes to check your soil moisture and environmental conditions. Dahlias originate from Mexico and Central America, where they thrive in warm days, cool nights, and free-draining soil. In temperate areas (USDA hardiness zones 3-8), or warm southern zones ( 9-11), their shallow root systems are vulnerable. Container-grown dahlias face even harsher conditions, as pot soil can reach scorching temperatures that can stop root absorption.

Dahlias need consistent moisture to continue blooming. Light, daily sprinkles will dry out quickly and don’t allow water to penetrate deeply enough to reach all the roots. Focus on watering less often (2-3 times per week) but more deeply. Water at the base to keep leaves dry and to discourage fungal infections. To get a really good sense of conditions at root level, test the moisture at a 4-inch (10cm) depth, using a simple probe like the highly rated XLUX Soil Moisture Meter, available from Amazon.

Before hitting this checklist, it’s also a good idea to check and refresh the mulch around your dahlias. Where it looks dry, replace it with a 2-inch (5cm) blanket of shredded bark, such as Vigoro Premium Brown Wood Shredded Mulch, available at The Home Depot. Mulching can reduce soil moisture loss by up to 40%, giving your plants a more stable basis for the following jobs. Make a little time for these tasks now, and you’ll add loads of extra time to your dahlia’s blooming life and intensity.

1. Deadhead Flowers and Trim Back Stems

Deadheading is a simple trick to keeping your dahlia blooms burgeoning into fall. Leaving spent flowers on their stems means plants start putting energy into making seeds – and essentially stop flowering. So aim to remove faded flowers right away, and make this task a twice-weekly feature. Rather than snipping just below the flower, cut just above the next set of healthy leaves. This encourages branching, resulting in bushier growth with more opportunities for flowers to develop and bloom.

To make clean cuts through thick, fibrous dahlia stems without crushing delicate vascular tissue, use razor-sharp snips like Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Shears from Walmart for precision trimming that won’t tear at tissue. Collect spent blooms and leggy trimmings cleanly as you move down the border. You’ll be amazed how quickly these faded heads can accumulate, so go for something sturdy, like the KingWillow Wicker Basket from Amazon which is both practical and elegantly rustic. Expect to see fresh side shoots pushing new buds within 7-10 days of pruning.

If you get confused between new buds and spent heads, here’s a quick check. The round, marble-like buds are the fresh flowers, while the pointed, squishy cones are the spent blooms that have already shed their petals. Distinguishing between the two is vital when working through heavy-flowering cactus and semi-cactus varieties. Get this right, and your future showstoppers are well on their way.

2. Switch to a Bloom-Boosting Fertilizer

Dahlias are heavy feeders and benefit from regular feeding through the growing season. While you may have used a balanced fertilizer earlier in summer, now is the time to focus on the flowers, which means more potassium and less nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages foliage growth, while potassium is necessary for flower bud formation. Too much nitrogen produces weak, hollow stems that are incapable of supporting massive flower heads like those of Labyrinth or Emory Paul.

This month, you need a general flower-boosting product or any fertilizer that emphasizes potassium and phosphorus. This will help you to drive those extra blooms and intensify petal pigmentation, and it will also strengthen the plant’s tuber reserves for winter storage. Look for a 5-10-10 or 3-4-6 ratio, such as with Espoma’s Tomato-tone, available from Amazon. However, resist the urge to overfeed. Adding more potassium won’t magically create more flowers. The goal is to create balanced nutrition that supports a healthy plant while encouraging ongoing blooming.

To help with root structure and essential trace minerals, supplement every fortnight with an ocean-derived tonic like kelp or seaweed. For a budget booster, try Bloom City’s Organic Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer from Walmart to nurture that generous bloom party. Remember to always water the root zone before applying liquid or granular fertilizers to prevent nutrient root burn.

3. Support Long Stems

Depending on your dahlia variety, your gorgeous blooms may be accompanied with very tall stems. However, heavy flowers can cause even strong stems to sag or flop. A single dinnerplate dahlia bloom can retain several ounces of rainwater, instantly doubling its weight and snapping unsupported main stalks with upsetting finality. So you need to check the strength of any supports you have in place, especially for massive decorative and dinnerplate varieties reaching 4-5 feet (1.2-1.5m) in height.

Add additional stakes at this point if necessary. Bamboo stakes are a great, natural choice for holding up dahlia stems and flowers. You can get affordable batches of bamboo online. Try Backyard X-Scapes 4ft Natural Bamboo from Walmart which arrive in packs of 25. These have natural yield but hold up well against late summer winds. Drive supports into the ground at a slight outward angle, inserting them 12 inches (30cm) deep and at least 2-3 inches (5-8cm) from the main tuber crown.

Use flexible, soft ties to secure stems to them. Stretch tape works well, or you can use twine like Nutscene Heritage Green Jute Garden Twine from Amazon for gentle support. Use a figure-eight pattern to avoid stem chafing against the stakes in windy conditions. Don't wrap ties tightly around soft green stems: always allow a little slack for stem expansion as the plant continues to grow. Properly secured plants will weather heavy summer downpours without losing a single bloom head.

4. Strip Lower Leaves to Support Airflow

Dahlias are prone to certain fungal infections, especially powdery mildew, which thrive in moist conditions with poor airflow. The lower foliage can become dense and even touch the ground, where it can pick up spores. Stripping this bottom foliage, often referred to as bottom-pruning or skirting, opens up the airway, allowing morning breezes to dry out soil and eliminate the conditions fungal spores need to germinate.

Target yellow leaves, damaged leaves, and those close to the ground. This simple task prevents vulnerable leaves from getting and staying damp. As an extra preventative measure (or if you aren’t sure which leaves to take), you can also get Arber Organic Bio-Fungicide from Walmart to keep botrytis at bay. Remember to use these treatments early in the morning or at dusk so you don’t scorch the leaves.

If you see any visibly infected foliage, remove it and dispose of it. Do not put it in a compost pile. Where you suspect an infection may have affected a part of the plant, spray the foliage with a gentle sulfur alternative, such as Captain Jack's Copper Fungicide Concentrate, available from Lowe’s. You can also prevent fungal diseases by watering carefully at the base of each plant, avoiding getting the leaves wet, and watering in the morning so leaves have a chance to dry through the day.

5. Watch for Pests

Check your dahlia plants regularly for signs of pests, so you can manage them before they turn into a major problem. August heat accelerates pest life cycles, allowing thrips, spider mites, and nocturnal earwigs to multiply rapidly. Thrips cause discolored or distorted flowers, like stippling, deformed buds, and silvery patches on leaves. Spider mites leave delicate webbing, while earwigs cause ragged bites in leaves and petals. Earwigs are particularly destructive to dahlias, because they hide inside developing bloom buds during the day and feast on petals by night.

Inspect petal crevices and leaf undersides. You can blast mites and thrips away with a strong spray of water. Honestly, this is a satisfying job, especially when you know you are keeping your dahlias in good fettle for a few more weeks of color. You can also manage pests organically with a neem application like Captain Jack’s Neem Max Concentrate from Walmart. Dilute and spray the leaves of your plants, then wipe. Use a pressurized pump sprayer like the Chapin 1-Gallon Lawn and Garden Sprayer from The Home Depot for an efficient mist application across dense dahlia borders.

Shop Dahlia Care Essentials

Keeping your dahlias standing tall, healthy, and covered in massive blooms through fall doesn't require a shed full of chemicals. A few treatments and protective supports is all it takes to ensure a spectacular show right up until the first frost. Here’s my trio of go-to treats for gorgeous dahlia blooms:

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Fall-flowering clematis are a joy, filling September with colorful blooms to refresh gardens after a long, hot summer. Most start blooming months earlier, so their fabulous flowers will carry a garden through that late-season gap when summer-flowering perennials are exhausted but many fall bloomers are yet to reach their peak. Some varieties even bloom through to the first frost, making these late-flowering clematis vines an indispensable element of designing a garden for great fall color.

What’s more, late-season clematis are the easiest of all vines to prune, even for beginner gardeners who’ve never picked up a pair of hand pruners before. In February or March, just as new growth appears, all the stems need snipping to around a foot or so above the ground, just above a bud – and that’s it! Because these vines all flower on new growth, this no-nonsense annual prune means blooms grow along the full length of the vining stems for a standout display. And, by reducing the stems to such a short length every year, the growth is easily controlled.

Fancy an abundance of showstopper fall flowers, year after year? Here’s our pick of the very best fall-flowering clematis vines to plant in every spot – plus the one you should never introduce to your garden.

1. Best For Fragrance: Sweet Summer Love Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Part or full sun
• Grows 10 feet high and 6-10 feet wide

Don’t be fooled by the name of this fabulous climber, because while its heavy flush of flowers in July and August earns it a spot on our pick of best clematis vines for stunning summer flowers, it steadily carries on blooming all the way into October. While the myriad 2-inch flowers are very pretty, opening a cranberry-red and maturing to purple for a fabulous color-changing effect, their divine fragrance is the reason you should add this vine to your garden.

The scent is sweet and comforting, mixing warm vanilla with a nostalgic hit of almonds and cherries that will remind you of Jergens Original Scent Cherry Almond Lotion. And when you consider the size of this vine and what a heavy bloomer it is, you can begin to imagine the wonderful cloud of fragrance it brings to any backyard.

This clematis is better grown in the ground on account of its size. Don’t worry, though, as although it’s a vigorous grower it’s not invasive and was intentionally bred to be well-behaved, and has won numerous gardening accolades. By pruning it hard in early spring, you can easily control its size, too. And use its abundance to your advantage by allowing this vine to smother a sturdy archway, scramble over a pergola or disguise an ugly shed.

2. Best for Shade: Samaritan Jo Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Full to partial shade
• Grows 4-5 feet high and 3-4 feet wide

Think all clematis need sun? Think again! Samaritan Jo clematis has been bred to flourish in full to partial shade, doing best with less than four hours of sunlight a day, and its silvery purple-edged petals light up a dark spot a treat. This vine is tough, too, and hardy down to -30°F, so don’t worry about it getting chilly in a shady corner. Because of its compact size, this beauty can be grown in a large planter as well as in the ground, adding to its versatility.

This well-behaved vine begins blooming in May and is still going strong in September, and often into early October for plenty of autumn flowers. Snipping off faded blooms and treating it to a diluted liquid tomato feed such as Espoma Organic Tomato!, available from Amazon, every couple of weeks will keep it flowering for as long as possible.

3. Best for Beginners: Happy Jack Purple Clematis

• Zones 5-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows 6-8 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide

If you’ve never grown a clematis before, or simply want an easy life, then you really can’t go wrong with Happy Jack Purple Clematis. It’s a new and improved version of the well-known Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ – which is already considered to be one of the most dependable clematis cultivars in the world!

Happy Jack Purple brings bigger flowers, measuring 3-5 inches across, and more intensely-colored plum-purple petals that almost look like they’re made of velvet. Its contrasting yellow stamens are brighter than its predecessor’s, too, and it flowers all the way from June to the first frost. And even then it’s not done! While the leaves fall from this deciduous vine as temperatures plummet, its seedheads have long, plume-like tails that become more fluffy and feathery as winter goes on.

Because Happy Jack Purple flowers on both new and old wood (yes, for double the flowers), prune it a little higher – to two feet from the ground – than our other fall picks in February or March.

This is one of those fabulous flowering plants that look like you spent hours gardening but practically grow themselves. So, if you have a friend with a birthday in August, you’ve just discovered the best-ever present!

4. Best For Flower Size: Lindsay Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows to 4-5 feet high and 2-3 feet wide

If you want your friends, family and neighbors to stop in their tracks when they step into your garden, Lindsay clematis is for you. The elaborate flowers measure a whopping 6 inches across with vibrant violet-purple petals and magenta-red anthers. You’ll be surprised just how many blooms this vine can fit on its compact frame, too, making this a great choice for a small garden, and one of those easy-grow accent plants that landscape designers love.

While the main blooming period of Lindsay clematis is from May to July, it reliably produces a second flush in September that can last into October. Its compact size means Lindsay clematis will flourish in a pot as well as in the ground, and just imagine these showstopper blooms in a container by your front door.

5. Best For a Patio Container: Gisella Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Full sun
• Grows 4-5 feet high and 3 feet wide

Gisella clematis is a real sun-lover, so won’t mind baking on a sundrenched patio or deck in a large container one bit. And it’ll put on quite the show, blooming from May right through September and into early fall. Because this clematis flowers on new wood, its five-inch flowers smother the plant from top to bottom, and they’re the most beautiful dusky pink hue that no cottage garden should be without. Its foliage is a darker green than most clematis vines, too, setting off those showstopper flowers a treat. As quick and clever ideas for containers go, this beauty is a winner.

Because of its compact size and shrub-like shape, Gisella clematis makes for a fabulous accent patio planter, too. And while this plant needs full sun for the most abundant display of flowers, it’ll appreciate having cool feet and well-draining but moist compost – easily achieved by regular watering and strategic positioning in the low shade cast by an outdoor sofa.

6. Best for Low-Maintenance: Jolly Good Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows 6-7 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide

Living up to its name, Jolly Good is one of the most easy-going clematis vines to grow, and is another hybrid of the dependable ‘Jackmanii’. While it needs something to hold onto, it happily scrambles up a fence, trellis or post, using small leaf stems called petioles that act like miniature hands to hold onto supports. Because of its natural habit to grow tall but not very wide, Jolly Good tends to stay where you want it rather than rambling off in other directions, making this one of the best fast-growing vines that don't scramble out of control.

Its lovely lavender flowers begin in June and continue through September. Plant it in the ground and, as long as the soil is well-drained and you water it regularly, it won't care a jot if you’re on clay, loam, sand or chalky ground. Jolly Good is one of the best perennials for patio pots that bring maximum flowers for minimum effort, too.

7. Best for Abundant Blooms: Pink Mink Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Partial to full sun
• Grows to 9-10 feet and 5 feet wide

Developed by Polish clematis master Szczepan Marczyński who is known for breeding hybrids with tremendous flower power, Pink Mink clematis was introduced 15 years ago. Since then, it’s certainly proved itself to be a prolific bloomer. Each of its bright pink flowers, the curved petals sporting a magenta stripe down their centres, measures 2-3 inches across, and a mature plant may boast a hundred flowers at any one time at its peak.

Pink Mink clematis starts with a heavy flush of flowers in June, then steadily repeat-blooms through till the end of September. This vine is the perfect Goldilocks size to grow over an arch or trellised garage wall, filling a once-bare spot with fabulous flowers, without ever getting out of hand.

And One Never to Plant: Sweet Autumn Clematis

While Sweet Autumn clematis isn’t classed as invasive in every state, it’s a fast and vigorous vine capable of reaching a huge 20-30 feet high and 10-20 feet wide, forming a dense blanket that can block sunlight from other plants. The real problem, however, is its overabundance of seeds that germinate far more easily and quickly than most other clematis.

Sweet Autumn clematis has become a major ecological concern across the eastern United States, Florida and parts of Canada, where it’s escaped from gardens to affect natural ecosystems, and is classed as an invasive species.

While this self-seeder is still widely sold for garden use in many states where it’s not considered invasive, it’s a thug and there are plenty of other fall-flowering clematis that are just as beautiful but won’t cause you any headaches. If you're shopping at a garden centre, be careful not to pick this Clematis terniflora up thinking it's the native Clematis virginiana, too: while the flowers of both are almost identical, the leaf margins of the native clematis are toothed while those of sweet autumn clematis are smooth.

Expert Tips For Planting Clematis in August

• All clematis need trellis or support wires to enable the vine to climb, or you can grow this vine up through a shrub or tree. Stems will twine themselves around their support, so there's no need to tie them in, unless you want to encourage them to spread out. You may need to guide new stems towards the trellis with bamboo canes.
• Clematis like moist but well-draining soil. So use a large planter that's at least 18 inches deep and wide, filled with a container potting mix such as Expert Gardener Potting Mix for Potted Plants available from Walmart. In the ground, dig a hole that's twice as wide and slightly deeper than the pot your clematis comes in, and improve the soil with compost or well-rotted manure, such as Black Kow Organic Compost and Manure available from Walmart, before planting.
• All clematis do better if their roots are kept cool, so use mulch, pebbles or low annual plants at the plant base. In a pot, you can arrange patio furniture to cast shade onto the container.
• Water deeply and regularly, immediately after planting and then once or twice a week.
• When adding a summer- and fall-flowering clematis to your garden in August, you'll want to avoid transplant shock, which may temporarily halt blooming. The more mature the plant, the less vulnerable it is, so buy the biggest container size you can afford. Stand the clematis pot in a bucket of water for 20 minutes to soak the rootball before you plant it. Try to disturb the rootball as little as possible when planting, and plant it 2-3 inches deeper than the original soil line.

This heatwave summer is proving tough for lots of plants, even those widely touted as heat- and drought-tolerant perennials. These five beauties, however, are flourishing in the intense conditions, and I’ll be planting plenty more.

I’m a huge fan of growing low-maintenance plants in my garden, whether that’s border blooms that practically grow themselves or low-care perennials that love life in a patio pot. Still, the lack of rain and high temperatures this summer has made some plants far needier than usual – and no wonder. My garden hasn’t seen a drop of water for over 2 months now, and I’m three weeks into a complete hosepipe ban. Some usually reliable border bloomers stopped flowering weeks ago; some are even threatening to give up the ghost entirely.

Other plants, however are behaving just as they would in any summer, as if they never received the heatwave memo. A few are performing even better than normal. And honestly, it's such a relief to know that these resilient plants will survive this heatwave summer and return, year and year, bringing plenty of flowers for minimal maintenance. In my quest to have a garden that almost takes care of itself, I'm seriously considering replacing those divas that are proving increasingly needy in this hot weather – I'm looking at you, hydrangeas – with more of these tough-cookie, heat-tolerant plants. So without further ado, here are my heatwave heroes.

1. Agapanthus

Earning top spot in my list of resilient plants coping with this intense summer heat is agapanthus, also commonly called lily of the Nile and African lily. I grow these in pots and along the edges of raised beds as they bloom far more profusely in a constricted space, prioritising flowers over foliage. And boy, are they blooming well this summer! The first glimpse of the pretty blue buds was way back in June and they’re still going strong in August.

Native to South Africa, it’s no wonder these perennials are thriving in this heatwave summer. Hardy down to zone 8, you can get away with growing agapanthus in zones 6 and 7, too, as long as you pop them in a pot that you move to a sheltered spot over winter. In the south, you can grow lily of the Nile as showstopper flowering groundcover, too, as the foliage is largely evergreen.

Whether in pots, raised beds or the ground, agapanthus needs excellent drainage, so I mix a few handfuls of coarse grit such as Jacks Gritty Mix, available from Walmart, into the potting soil. Any coarse sand or fine gravel does the same job, or pick up a bag of poultry sand such as this Premium Chicken Sand from Home Depot from a farm supply store.

Now’s a great time to buy lily of the Nile as you can get the plant well-established in its new home, ready for plenty of blooms next summer, and blue agapanthus plants are available from Nature Hills. As we’re approaching the end of its blooming season in August, you’ll often find some great deals on multi-packs of young plants to grow on and Walmart currently has value packs of Blue Agapanthus plants. And why not mix some white in among the blue with this value pack of Getty White Agapanthus, also from Walmart?

2. Gaura

Next up in my top five of low maintenance perennials is gaura. Thanks to their long tap roots, my gaura plants are showing no signs of struggling in this heatwave summer. I mostly grow ‘Whirling Butterflies’, available from Garden Goods Direct, as it’s a sterile variety, which means it doesn’t produce viable seeds so doesn’t need deadheading – and flowers all the way from June into November. Its white flowers are fairly small but there are hundreds of them on 3-foot wiry stems that sway in the slightest breeze, and the pretty pink buds add to the show.

There are plenty of other varieties of this perennial to choose from, ranging from white to deep pink, and all have the same airy habit and are suitable for zones 5–9. ‘Siskiyou Pink’ is another favorite variety because it’s also sterile for summer-long blooming. Gaura ‘Siskiyou Pink’ plants are also available from Garden Goods Direct.

Gaura has recently been reclassified as Oenothera, in case you’re confused by all the different names out there!

3. English Shrub Rose

I’ve been happily surprised how well my reblooming English Shrub roses have coped with the heat and drought this year. While older varieties of roses are starting to struggle, the newer reblooming hybrids are still flowering strongly and I haven’t seen a scorched leaf yet. As far as easy to grow plants go, my shrub roses are proving to be winners.

In particular, Desdemona, an English shrub rose available from David Austin Roses, seems invincible this year – and I can see why David Austin sells this plant with a five year guarantee. It’s deemed suitable for zones 5 through 11, which gives you an idea of how well it copes with heat. It’s one of the strongest survivors in a border I haven’t watered for over two years now and still, every week, new peach-toned buds are opening into white chalice-shaped blooms with just a hint of blush pink, with a sweet yet fresh scent of almond blossom and lemon zest.

Many modern shrub roses are now purposefully bred to better handle sun and drought, with breeders introducing the resilience of wild roses native to dry regions to toughen up genetics. So, if your older roses are struggling this summer, perhaps it’s time to look to newer hybrids with a higher tolerance. It’s best to wait till September to plant a rose, but it would be wise to pre-order now, for shipment next month, as I’ll wager lots of folk will be planting more of these newer drought-tolerant roses having seen how well they’ve performed this summer.

4. Echinacea

Echinacea are very good at finding their own moisture source so are a great choice for a low maintenance garden. Some species send a taproot up to five feet down into the ground, others spread a fibrous root system outwards instead. This explains why echinacea growing in pots are struggling in many gardens this heatwave summer, while those in the ground are thriving.

I grow a ton of perennial Echinacea pallida (pale purple cornflower) which is native to North America, found in tallgrass prairies, so is naturally highly drought tolerant. In fact, it’s pretty tolerant of anything and everything, so is suitable for zones 3-10. While its narrow petals do get a little crispy at the tips after a few weeks, my plants keep throwing up fresh blooms. Pollinators choose this variety over all the other coneflowers in my garden, so I’ll be planting even more – and Echinacea pallida plants are available from Plant Addicts.

Another coneflower renowned for its toughness is Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’. This gem grows abundant flowers in mixed colors, from white and cream through yellow, orange and red to pink and purple. It grows well in zones 4-9 and Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' plants are available from Fast Growing Trees. It can be planted now, though you’ll need to keep it watered while the plant settles into its new home and grows that mega root system to secure its own moisture source.

5. Scabiosa

All my perennial Scabiosa plants are performing brilliantly this summer, and I grow at least 10 different varieties because their pinchusion flowers are such a favorite with bees and butterflies. Their only downside is that you do need to deadhead them – but bother to keep snipping off those fading blooms and scabious will keep flowering to the first frost. I use a little $10 thumb knife like this Silicone Thumb Harvesting Tool from Amazon to deadhead them one-handed as I enjoy my morning cup of coffee in the garden, so it really isn’t a chore.

If you were to ask all the bees and butterflies in my garden what their number one Scabiosa is, they’d undoubtedly choose Butterfly Blue. Suitable for zones 3-9, it’s smothered in 2-inch lavender-blue flowers all summer long, even in this heat, and Butterfly Blue Scabious plants are available from Burpee. I’ve found Fama White to be even more heat-tolerant this summer, though. These gloriously elegant flowers are bigger at 3 inches across, thrive in zones 4-10, and Fama White Scabiosa plants are also available from Burpee. Both these varieties are perennial so will be back year after year (there are annual scabious varieties, too, that complete their lifecycle in a year).

You can plant perennial Scabiosa now, but you’ll need to keep them watered while they settle in, though should be pretty drought-tolerant by next summer.

Here are all the most resilient plants in my garden, happily surviving where others are failing, and still flowering abundantly in August.

There’s no telling how long this heatwave weather will last for so, if you’re a slave to your hosepipe, perhaps it’s time to think about replacing some of your neediest plants with more drought resistant perennials, too.

The last few weeks, I’ve been loving seeing all the bees and butterflies doing their rounds and collecting supplies from all the salvia, helenium and flowering oregano currently bobbling in clouds around the backyard. But as early bloomers start to fade and gaps start appearing in beds, my friendly pollinators face the dreaded nectar gap. So I’m turning my attention to another vibrant summer stalwart that I know will bring on a flurry of late summer blooms, and that’s the aster.

There are two word-related things I love about growing asters. First, in floriography (the language of flowers), asters represent patience, which links up nicely with their late summer reputation as superheroes of the second wind. Another lovely association is that the name “aster” comes from the Greek for “star” (astro) and a goddess who wept star dust on the earth, prompting a trail of purple-blue blooms to bloom. The luminescent lavender-blue petals and teensy star-like buds, typical of varieties like Fikart’s Aster and Peachie’s Pick Stokes Aster from Plant Addicts, certainly make me think of summer stars twinkling in borders and pots.

Asters make generous flowering additions if planted now, with an astonishing capacity for blooms that go on for weeks and weeks. This is no fleeting summer fling. Those starry pastel and bubblegum tones add instant, lush daisy dynamics that can take you all the way through fall. And because they are perennials, they won’t just be fuelling migrating monarchs and other late summer pollinators this year: they’ll also be back next year for another star-studded performance. Here’s how easy it is to transform your sleepy midsummer gaps into a symphony of stars.

Why Plant Asters Now?

Now is the perfect time to plant asters of all hues. If you are after the king of the purples, go for Grape Crush New England Aster from Nature Hills. Or if you’re after a candy pink shade with more of a frilly look, you can get Proven Winners Henry III Pink Asters from Plant Addicts. From wild aromatic asters to classic New England showstoppers, planting in August gives instant gratification, while tapping into optimal soil conditions to help roots establish in record time.

Planting asters in August solves one of the trickiest gardening puzzles: deciding where you have room. Early flowering perennials have peaked, making bare patches and tired borders painfully obvious. You can easily slot asters where their color will do the most good. Bye-bye to early summer casualties, scrappy gaps, and faded bedside glamor – hello, jewel pinks, juicy purples, and twinkly blues!

The soil should be pleasantly warm, so aster starts and young plants can root and establish at lightning speed. If you’re not sure and want to check, use a thermometer like the Luster Leaf Rapitest Soil Thermometer from Amazon. Plus, midsummer sun angles and changing shadow patterns are fully visible now. Planting now lets you position your asters in spots that catch every last drop of golden afternoon light.

Just work a sprinkling of Espoma Organic Chicken Granular Manure from Walmart into the soil at planting time for a gentle, slow-release of nutrients to keep blooms powering on for longer. Planting asters now means you provide a critical lifeline for migrating monarchs and native bees. From the sky-blue spray of a Frikart's aster to the purpliest of all purples (like Purple Dome), now is the time to get them in the ground for the ultimate summer refresh. Here's how to do it right for beds and containers…

Grab Your Asters

Late summer is when asters take center stage, and these fast-flowering options will guarantee you aren’t staring at gaps for long. From compact gems that fit effortlessly into patio pots to back-of-border color-blockers, there’s an aster for every space. This trio of dreamy pastels, neon bubblegums, and royal purple perennials will add statement color that lasts for months. They can all be planted in August for blooms to first frost.

Dazzling Summer Fillers

Planting in Summer Beds and Borders

Plugging asters into tired-looking August borders is simple, but positioning depends on the eventual height and shape of your variety. Taller New England aster classics like neon pink Alma Potschke are perfect for backs of borders. Meanwhile, mounding growers like bubblegum Kickin Carmine Red from Plant Addicts easily fill mid-border gaps without needing stakes. While asters are great gap fillers, just make sure they will have good air flow, which is key to keeping these plants happy and disease-free.

Dig a wide hole and add a little phosphorus-rich feed like Down To Earth Organic Fish Bone Meal from Lowe’s to kickstart root growth and flower production. Once your plant is in position, backfill the hole, firm the soil gently around the base, and water deeply to eliminate air pockets. Add a couple of inches (5 cm) of an organic mulch like leaf mold or some Back to the Roots Organic Premium Shredded Bark Mulch from Amazon. This keeps ground temperatures cool, locks in moisture, and prevents fungal spores from splashing onto lower leaves during heavy rain.

Asters prefer at least six hours of sun daily, though in scorching yards, a touch of dappled afternoon shade helps pastel petals retain their vibrancy for longer. As flowers begin to open, routine maintenance takes just minutes a week. Just deadhead faded flower heads above a fresh leaf joint or lateral bud. This will pretty much guarantee your asters keep the bloom frenzy going well into fall. Lucky you!

Planting in Containers

By midsummer, patio pots may also be looking tired. Here, asters also make the ultimate late-summer container rescue plants. Compact cushion varieties like Wood’s Purple or Wood’s Pink are lovely in pots and bring rich, saturated color to doorsteps, balconies, and sun-drenched patios. Reaching just 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) tall, they quickly fill out in cheerful violet and bubblegum color without ever flopping or needing stakes. You can get Hirt’s Gardens’ Wood’s Pink Asters from Walmart as live plants for a little extra protection against mildew and extra rust resistance.

Because container roots can dry out fast in afternoon heat, plant your asters into a moisture-retaining blend like Espoma Organic Potting Mix, available from The Home Depot. This is packed with beneficial mycorrhizae to help roots anchor fast. To power non-stop flower production deep into October, it’s also a good idea to sprinkle in a little of your bone meal. Water daily in extended heat to keep plants lush and active. However, make sure you are watering directly at the soil line to keep foliage clean.

Asters have a reputation for attracting powdery mildew, which could be more of an issue in containers. However, there are ways around this. Modern dwarf asters and disease-resistant types like the Wood’s series are bred to fight off powdery mildew. But if you’re worried about humidity or crowded containers, keep a bottle of Bonide Copper Fungicide Spray from Amazon on hand. This help protect against powdery mildew and leaf spot. Pair your potted asters with trailing golden foliage or dark coral bells, and your porch containers will be buzzing with late-season pollinators right through to pumpkin season.

Great Planting Partners

Layering rich hues, tonal contrasts, and varied heights with the right plant partners will help you showcase your asters to full effect for the months ahead (and will also help keep pollinators happy for even longer). August is prime time for interplanting asters alongside hardy summer perennials that will stay vibrant right up to the first freeze. By choosing companions that share a fondness for full sun and well-drained soil, you ensure your midsummer refresh looks lush and established from day one.

Pair with indestructible rudbeckia or the dazzling spires of goldenrod (solidago) for savvy color contrasting. The rich gold and purple combination is one of nature’s favorite high-contrast color duos, practically vibrating with life in late-afternoon sunlight. Grow fellow native ‘Goldenrod’ by American Beauties from Plant Addicts. For textural variety, scatter frothy white yarrow (achillea) through the middle of the border, or a zingy color contrast with Yarrow Strawberry Seduction from Nature Hills. Yarrow's flat-bloom cluster clumps help give beneficial insects a sweet landing pad.

Fellow native purple coneflower (echinacea) introduces a strong silhouette. Even as their petals fade, their spiky seed cones provide texture and bronze tones for your starry aster clusters. Buy Clovers Garden Purple Coneflower Plants from Amazon. Nestle with some feathery ornamental grass like Purple Fountain Grass from Fast Growing Trees to offset brighter tones with graceful texture and movement. For patio displays and small-space vessels, add a splash of weeping golden creeping Jenny to cascade over container rims, and dwarf blue salvia for rich color spikes.

Shop Aster Essentials

Asters are resilient once settled, but giving your starts a little extra TLC when planting in August makes all the difference. Late-summer planting generally means warm ground and high sun, so your main focus is accelerating root establishment, protecting against heat shock, and encouraging non-stop flower fabulousness through to fall frosts. Treating your new plants to high-quality organic amendments, bloom-boosting feeds, and protective mulches will keep those daisy-like stars exploding with color right up until the first winter freeze.

Bloom Care Trio

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