RE: August non-yellow perennials

Hi Claire,
 I have been away on a little R&R with my daughter - camping in a lovely
park next to the Pacific Ocean.
 But, I would love to offer up a few non-yellow perennials blooming here for
August.

Acidanthera bicolor (Peacock Lily, hardy Gladiolus) - white with a dark
purple blotch & heavenly scent
Agastache barberi 'Tutti-frutti' - hot, hot pink
Allium 'Schubertii' - lavender pink - looks like fireworks or shooting stars
Artemesia lactiflora 'Guizho' - one of my favs. Sprays of creamy white on
tall (6')dark red stems.
Begonia grandis (hardy) in pink & white
Campanulas in pink, white & blue
Clematis - vitacellas are in their glory now, purples and reds.
Echinacea 'Ruby Star' and 'White Swan'
Eupatorium 'Gateway' - I love the 7' dark ruby stems
Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' - dark chocolate stems and leaves, large
clusters of tiny white flowers.  Probably the most asked about
Fuchsias (hardy) in every conceivable color except yellow
Gauras in white and pink
Geranium 'Ann Folkard' weaving through all its neighbors with magenta petals
and black eye over chartreuse leaves
Lobelias - tall stems of blue, red, claret or magenta
Penstemons - blooming non stop in red, pink, blue, white, purple
Persicaria 'Fire Tail' - spikes of hot red-pink
Phygelius 'Sensation' - a great color break - bright rosy magenta
Salvias in blue, red, pink, purple  ('Black & Blue' is a favorite)
Stokesia 'Purple Parasols' - really pretty with many shades of blue-purple
Thalictrum delavayii 'Hewitt's Double' - 7' in bloom.  Tons of airy
pinky-lavender double flowers float over purple stems in part shade
Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'

NOT TO MENTION THE ROSES, HYDRANGEAS, BUDDLEIAS & LAVATERAS
So many others have already been mentioned.
Now to get out there and water all this stuff!

Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of ECPep@aol.com
Sent:	Monday, August 05, 2002 10:27 PM
To:	perennials@hort.net
Subject:	Re: now the AUGUST BLUES


Most gardeners complain that everything that blooms well in August is yellow
so lose interest. Mostly composites.  Marilyn is going to have something
interesting to say here,  I am sure.  We will have daylilies until September
because of our location but I think you have more selections in the western
coastal areas.


The Rose of Sharon,  Diane, a shrub is a very showy plant when not hit by
May
frosts.  Bluebird if you can find it is also a great plant.

>From what I read on this forum, very diverse selections are available on
the
West Coast that we need to search for in the East.

There is also the Hosta, plantaginea or August lily which has large fragrant
blossoms if grown with enough water.  These are really large flowers and the
double form is also showy but hard to grow.

One trick to extend the daylilies is to transplant them.  If you pull them
out in the spring and replant them they are many weeks later for the
disturbance.  Special late blooming daylilies are not sold in nurseries. One
needs some guidance to buy them which can come from Cheryl who is very
up-to-date.  I have, or had one, that bloomed in October.  I gave it away as
it always froze here.

More August plants that are showy and interesting are dahlias and cannas. On
the bulb list there was long discussion on dahlias and blooming.  The
Chicago
botanic person said that they all bloom in response to day length.  He said
breeding had changed the bloom periods of many cultivars so you had to check
with a specialist or try to find a plant marked early to bloom.  What you
expect does not always happen due to new species being introduced to the
mix.

If you can find a very dwarf canna with good flowers, it is better than a
peony as it continues to bloom until frost stops it.  Again, it is hard to
find the right cultivar.  I have one named 'Perkeo' which is a good pink and
if started indoors here might actually bloom well in August.  It is budded
now.

Larkspur will bloom any month depending on when you seed it here.  So if you
throw around some seeds in June, you will have blue spikes in August.
Larkspur will grow without ever seeing water so it is a staple here, needs
lime.

And just a question, does anyone grow Phlox 'Starfire'? This is one unusual
color for a Phlox.  A big clump (needs water) can be seen from an airplane,
I
am sure.  This is hard to place but everybody should try 'Starfire' once.

It boils down to August is a month you have to work on, June is a gift.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

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