Another six star plants for August

Last week’s ‘Six on Saturday’ was a bit challenging as I just couldn’t decide which six to feature!  So, this week I have come back with another six stars of the August garden.

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One:  Dahlia ‘Apricot Desire’

There are so many dahlias to choose from in late summer but this variety, ‘Apricot Desire’, seems to have performed very well this year.  It is such a beautiful and well shaped bloom.  Generally the dahlias seem to have been later this year but the plants are still looking very good and the buds are forming well.

As the picture shows, it will not be long until the Asters begin to flower as well and we are certainly looking forward with anticipation to the potentially striking combination.

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Two:  Ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’

We have grown a number of varieties of Ageratum over the years and the F1 ‘Blue Horizon’ stands out as both an excellent cut flower and border plant.  It is relatively tall, has strong stems and seems to just flower and flower and flower with little attention.  The powder blue is also quite unusual and sits well with yellows, whites and pinks.  Ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’ is a plant that we grow without hesitation every year now.

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Three: Chincherinchee

We grew this for the first time last year in large patio tubs and it performed wonderfully (see:  Chincherinchee (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) ).  We tried to overwinter the bulb with little success as they split into multiple tiny bulbules and presumably will take many years to grow big enough to flower effectively again.  As they are so cheap we bought another batch this year, started them in large pots and then planted out into the flower garden.

Once again they have grown into excellent plants and are producing good, strong stems (c. 18 inches) topped with these charming white flowers.  What I particularly like is that the don’t need any staking.  The second flush of flowers is beginning to develop now and they will probably carry on flowering until the first frosts.

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Four:  Phlox (probably ‘Bright Eyes’)

The Phlox in our garden never seem to be as big and lush as they are in other peoples’ gardens but they are such a lovely, fragrant flower that we continue to try year after year to develop and improve them.  They seem to thrive best in parts of the garden where there is continual moisture in the soil throughout the year.  Although we have some wonderful white Phlox in full sun they do need continual water to stop them flopping at the first sign of any drought.

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Five:  Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’

Aster ‘Mönch’ comes into flower a few weeks earlier than many of the other ‘September flowers’ (see: Michaelmas daisies in the autumn sunshine ).  It is a charming plant with a loose airy habit and makes a wonderful cut flower. It is a perfect flower for many of our country style wedding bouquets.

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Six:  Rose ‘Prince Jardinier’

This is one of the new roses that we have planted in the redesigned cut flower garden (see: New additions to our garden of Roses ).  Many have been repeat flowering but this variety just continues to produce these delicate light blooms with a darker pink centre.  Exquisite.

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