Look for celosia, salvias, coreopsis, rudbeckia and coneflower. For sun containers, popular options are succulents including agave, yucca and kalanchoe.
Radishes, turnips, beets and carrots can all be started from seeds in August. Chinese cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts can be transplanted in August and still have enough time to produce a good harvest.
Some good candidates to plant now include hydrangeas, daylilies, lilies, sedums, ornamental grasses, peonies, and bearded iris. Just be sure you keep your new plants well watered if the weather is hot and dry. Mulching the beds also helps preserve soil moisture.
Mid- to late-August is often an excellent time to plant fall flowers, as long as the weather isn't still so hot that the plants will suffer heat stress. But don't wait too late to plant, or you'll have a very short window to enjoy your flowers. Check the growing requirements for each plant.
Answer: Late summer (late August to mid-September) is an excellent time to plant many perennials. It is also a good time to move or divide perennials, such as peony, daylily, garden phlox, and oriental poppy.
In fact, many plants — such as spring bulbs and perennials — need to be planted in the late summer or early fall months, depending on your zone, in order to generate enough energy to bloom in the spring. Not to mention, it's never too late to add some colorful annuals to your outdoor space!
Passionflower is a perennial vine (meaning it comes back every year) that dies back in the fall; it needs rich well-drained soil and partial shade to full sun. With winding tendrils, this vine can climb vertical structures like trellises and armatures created from chicken wire or similar materials.
Seeds of such flowers as pansies, cineraria, dianthus, delphiniums, violas, nemesia, Iceland poppies, primroses, snapdragons, stock, and calendulas, planted in August, can give a great number or transplants with which to fill beds in October.
It's not too late to plant in your garden! In much of the country, summer still is full steam ahead in August. In other regions, the hint of cooler evenings mean the growing season is beginning to slow down. But regardless of where you live, there's plenty of time left in the season left for growing things!
You can defy the heat of August and dig in some new garden space for late summer planting. You will certainly appreciate the additional space next spring. Some gardeners may choose container-friendly vegetables for August planting.
Seeds germinate fast when the soil is already nice and warm. For delicious, picture-perfect fall crops of spinach, lettuce, peas, kale and broccoli, now's the time to plant. Here are four easy steps to ensure your success.
Late summer planting
Choose quick-maturing crops. Spinach, lettuce and greens, beets, carrots, peas, and beans can be sown now. Most seeds will readily germinate in the garden now because the soil holds heat well into autumn; warm soil (in the 70°s) is ideal for seed starting, as long as the weather is not too hot.
Chrysanthemums. Late summer or early fall is an excellent time to plant mums, one of the symbolic flowers of the season. Practically any time in September that strikes your fancy is a good bet, so long as it's at least six weeks before the year's first frost.
Larkspur, or delphinium, is the flower associated with July, blooming just in time for those summer babies to enjoy each year.
Fall is a good time for developing tomatoes because the cooler temperatures allow for better fruit set and insect problems diminish. Mid-July to the end of August is the ideal time to plant. When choosing your fall tomatoes, make sure you know if you're selecting a Determinate or Indeterminate type.
For this Blooming Period, we're highlighting some late summer/fall favorites: callas; China asters; lisianthus; perennial sunflowers; and zinnias.
Planting perennials in a container is not any different than planting annuals. But typically you may have more variety in a perennial container garden so just a little planning will help to position plants in a pleasing arrangement.
This method encourages the plants' roots to reach deeply for residual water, even when the surface of the soil appears dry. The standard rule of thumb is to give your flowers and vegetables the equivalent of at 1 inch of water per week (and as much as double that amount in the peak of summer).
It's true! Planting perennials in the fall is an easy way to enjoy a bigger, more beautiful garden the following year. While most gardeners are more accustomed to planting in spring, fall is also an ideal time to get perennials established in your garden.