Moya Andrews

Joe-Pye weed looks great next to a splash of sunshine yellow from goldenrod or helianthus.

As summer transitions into fall, we usually rely on mums and asters to give us color as the growing season wanes. But here are some other reliable bloomers.

The yellow and orange colors of the glads we have today came from the genetic legacy of a variety called Gladiolus primulinus.

These are good plants for an informal, colorful, easy-care planting that will show up well from a distance.

“Heli” means sun and “anthus” means flower.

Many annuals need to be deadheaded to keep blooming all season. While snipping off the spent blossoms can hardly be described as hard work, it is easier not to have to remember to do this chore. For that reason, many of us try to buy annuals that do not need deadheading in order to re-bloom all season long and right into fall.

William Shakespeare included so many botanical references in his plays that there are about 175 mentions of flowers, fruits, grains, grasses, seeds, weeds, trees, spices, herbs, and vegetables in his works.

I don’t have a watering system, so I get tired of watering when there are long periods of hot, dry summer weather. Here in the Midwest when it is over 90F, potted plants need watering twice a day and beds on slopes do too. It is a chore that makes me wish I had more drought tolerant plantings.

There are over 200 species of hibiscus, and they are beloved because of their big showy flowers and green, clean-looking foliage. They fall into three different major categories: tropical, perennial and hardy.

Wordsworth obviously was as impressed with this versatile plant as we still are today.