Plan ahead for late-summer COLOUR

Keep your garden bursting with colour until the first frosts with late-flowering perennials

- SUE BRADLEY

For many people, a midsummer garden is perfection, with sumptuous roses and clematis, fragrant sweet peas and cheery bedding. But there’s no need for the fun to stop there. With a little preparation, you can enjoy colour, form and fragrance through to October/ November, with plants that deliver a fabulous floral finale.

Dazzling dahlias

These floral divas come in a variety of forms, from pompoms and singles to blousy doubles and enchanting water lilystyle blooms. Colours range from white, such as the double-flowered dinner plate ‘Snowstorm’, through to pinks, purples, reds, oranges and yellows. Some, like ‘Bishop of Llandaff’, bring spectacular dark foliage to the party too.

HOW TO GROW Plant tubers in pots or in the ground now, in soil that’s been enriched with organic matter. Slugs are partial to tender dahlia shoots, so protect with a cloche (eg, an old plastic water bottle with the bottom cut off).

Sizzling sedums