Late Summer Favorites
SUBSHRUBS
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Buddleia, also known as butterfly bush, produces flowers in white, purple, blue, and pink.
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Russian sage (Pervoskia atriplicifolia) is a gray-leafed plant with pale blue flowers.
SUN GARDENS
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Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) is one Zone 5 plant worth the risk.
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Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Alba’) is tall and beautiful, with elegant white racemes.
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Hybrid goldenrod produces golden, feathery flower plumes.
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Joe Pye weed is a reliable standby that attracts butterflies and bees.
» Rudbeckia
‘Herbstsonne’ is ubiquitous, but lovely.
» Sedums include the indispensable ‘
Autumn Joy’ that turns from lime green to rosy red to rust.
» Aster ‘
Purple Dome’ is a foolproof choice.
SHADE LOVERS
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Monkshood (Aconitum) showcases delphinium-like spikes of blue or purple flowers.
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Toad lily (Trycyrtis hirta) easily passes for an orchid.
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Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) has pink or white flowers.
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Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) has a particularly nice noninvasive cultivar called ‘Miss Manners’.
» Ligularia includes ‘
The Rocket’, which has tall, yellow flower spikes.
» Autumn and black
snakeroot, also known as bugbane, produce plumelike flowers on long stems.
» Hostas ‘
Royal Standard’ and
‘Grandiflora’ send up tall, white flower spikes.
— Bonnie Blodgett