Late Flowering Perennials

Nothing is bleaker than seeing your garden fade in October. When autumn foliage colour, leaf drop and the hint of frost on your lawn early in the morning show signs of winter.

However, there are these lovely plants that still shine through the darkness of seasonal change. Try some in your garden:

Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' - Chocolate Joe Pie Weed

Tricyrtus hirta - Toad Lily

Nipponanthemum nipponicum - Nippon Daisy

Anemone x hybrida "Honorine Jobert" - autumn flowering Anemone

Actea racemosa "Hillside Black Beauty" -  This spliced photo is necessary to get the full spectrum of our Bugbane. Its spring foliage bears the name 'black beauty' - more than rest of the season. Fern-like, bronze foliage - really wonderful texture in May. Greening up in summer, it resembles an Astilbe. But just when you think it has given up any chance of flowering, in mid August the flower buds emerge and take ages to show any sign of blooming. Come late September, you get the first glimpse of these fabulous white bottle-brush blooms. Quite frost tolerant and will flower well into November in shade. (This plant gets evening sun.)

Perennial Plants For Shade - Part 2

Gee, I can see myself making several parts to this sort of post. There are so many choices out there. Not the run of the mill either. Choices like these:

Not your average shade plant. This Chiastophyllum oppositifolium "Cotyledon" has wonderful grape clustered, yellow flowers in early June. I don't grow it for the flowers, but more like a ground cover. Habit is rather low and quite tolerant of dry shade. Adds shiny leaves and different texture to garden.

Here is a close up of the flower cluster.

Foamflower, or Tiarella. This one is called Iron Butterfly. Love, love, love. Foliage is golden all summer and doesn't scorch in shade. Flowers come up in late May early June. Tolerates a fair bit of drought once established.

Epimedium davidii, or Bishop's Hat. Fabulous little columbine like flowers in late May, with semi evergreen foliage which....

...turn lovely shades of reds and bronzes with frost.

Viola cornuta "Bowles Black" - a dwarf variety, with purple/blue flowers. Foliage in spring is quite bronze purple, maturing to dark greens and a tinge of purple. Self seeds every where, but easy to hoe out if you don't want them. Great planted with Lysimachia nummularia "Aurea" beneath!

Alchemilla molis - Ladies Mantle. Nothing looks more glorious than leaves covered in dew on a  spring morning. Yellow flowers in June/July. Lovely paired with blue/yellow hostas. Can grow in a fair bit of sun as well.

Matteuccia struthiopteris, commonly known as Ostrich Fern. Lovely fiddle heads in spring (edible), unfurl into soft fronds. A bit of a runner. Must remove baby ferns in late spring to keep at bay. Great for dense shade and tough spots like under trees, or to cover an area quickly.

Tricyrtis - Toad Lily has long lily stems bearing orchid-like  flowers late in season (August-September). Real visual interest against evergreens or autumn changing foliage.

Anenome x hybrida "Honorine Jobert". Fall flowering Anemone. Some of the most delicate blooms that flower, standing above deep green foliage. Gently blowing in the breeze - they are stunning in masses.

Part 3 post here...