Six star plants for August

Despite the weeks of dry weather here in the UK Midlands some of the garden plants have still performed wonderfully during August.  These late summer flowers are adding a real freshness to the garden which has otherwise looked rather dry and scorched.

Here are my ‘Six on Saturday’ star performers.

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One:  Agapanthus africanus

These are the large evergreen Agapanthus with strap like leaves.  They tend to be more tender than the deciduous types.  These plants are growing in large terracotta pots that we take into the greenhouse for protection over the winter months.

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Two:  Sunflower ‘Vanilla Ice’

This is a medium height sunflower with delicate lemon yellow hand-sized flowers.  They do need some support but if you keep dead heading you get a succession of good quality flowers throughout the summer.  As you can see they are also enjoyed by the bees.

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Three: Physostegia virginiana

This is a perennial that thrives in damp soil and full sun.  Part of the cut flower garden is waterlogged for most of the winter and also remains moist through the summer months.  The Physostegia (along with the Astilbe) love these conditions.

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Four:  Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed’

One of my favourites.  It is such a happy looking plant and the large colourful flowers complement the green fluffy foliage wonderfully.  Over the years we have learnt not to treat it too kindly.  If you plant it in ground that has not been previously cultivated you get masses of green leaves and very few flowers until very late in the year.  Not terribly helpful for cutting.  Growing in poorer ground with little additional fertiliser gives you many more flowers earlier in the year.

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Five:  Rudbeckia

It has been difficult to choose just one Rudbeckia.  They are so important to the late summer garden yielding masses of bold yellow and rust coloured flowers.  This particular variety is an annual Rudbeckia hirta ‘Autumn Forest’.

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Six:  Acidanthera

Last but certainly not least in this six is the Abyssinian gladiolus, Acidanthera murielae.   Unlike many of the garden gladioli it looks delicate and elegant and moves gently in the breeze.  It has a wonderful scent and is good for cutting.

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The Six on Saturday meme is hosted by The Propagator. Click on the link to see what other plant lovers are chatting about.

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