When those long, hot long days of summer roll in, I find myself looking for a shady spot and a glass of lemonade. And my garden by this time of the year is looking for another splash of color because there is no better place to look than to the North American native plants. Like this joe pye weed. Just look at this incredible color. I just love its dusty mow hues.

Now this plant is so easy to grow. It’s a perennial, it’ll come back in your garden year after a year and you better make sure you have plenty of rooms because it grow to great heights.

Another light season show stopper is summer flocks. Now, there are so many different cultivars and high breeds available but the original stock is actually from native plants. And then of course there’s the purple cone flower Echinacea just finishing up this time of the year but nonetheless spectacular. And just look at this exuberant display of black-eyed susans or Rudbeckia. It just seems like the more you turn up the heat, the better they perform. These showy flowers are particularly suited as companions to many of the native grasses which move so gracefully in the wind.

As the late summer performer has fade, the show still isn’t over. We have the fall bloomers to look forward too. Soon they’ll be taking to stage. Plants such as the golden rod, asters, and Ageratum or blue mistflower.

So if you’d like a list of some of these plants, just check out our website. From the garden, I’m Allen Smith.

If you’d like more information on this topic or any other gardening topic, just check out my website pallensmith.com.