Plants with a long flowering period will provide summer color right through to autumn and into winter until the first frost.
Quentin Stark, head gardener at Hall Park Gardens in Kent, was commissioned to redesign the gardens’ Centenary Garden. He was given the task of creating “colourful pots” for spring, summer and autumn, some of which would flower until the first frost.
So I visited Hall Park Gardens to see the flowers blooming in late autumn, which is a lovely mix of more formal gardens and borders, including the Sunken and Centenary Gardens, along with wilder areas and views over the wider parkland.
Hall Park is open to the public from April to October so it’s important to keep the borders looking beautiful, and long-flowering plants also support pollinators by providing nectar and pollen for a long period of time.
Long flowering plants in Hall Park Centenary Borders. The top group shows Helenium ‘September Fox’, Penstemon ‘Garnet’ and Kniphofia ‘Thompsonii’. Below them is the long flowering annual Cleome (Spiderflower).
Colorful potted late-season flowers
Quentin showed us around Centenary Gardens and showed us which plants have the longest flowering seasons, from late summer through fall and winter. Some plants start flowering in mid-summer and continue through fall, while others start flowering in late summer and continue until the first frost. These are the plants:
Agathaea kirea (yarrow) Diascia (twin spar) Chrysanthemum (the latest flowering plant in the border) Gaura (now Oenethera) Helenium ‘September Fox’ (flowers for 2 months so remove dead flowers regularly) Hummingbird plant (Dicryptera suberecta) Japanese aster (Callimeris incisa) Kniphofia ‘Thompsonyi’ (a very long flowering Kniphofia) Penstemon persicaria (many species) Roses (species vary. Rambling roses are a good long flowering climber) Rudbeckia Salvia (species vary. ‘Greggy’ and ‘Microphylla’ Salvias flower the longest) Sedum/stonecrop (now Hylotelephium) Society garlic (Tulbagua) Spiderflower (Cleome – grown as an annual. Marigolds (grown as annuals and re-seeded each year)
There are so many different varieties of some of these plants that here are some specific recommendations from Hall Park Gardens.
Agastache “Blackadder”
Agastache flowers from midsummer through to autumn, and there are mixed reports about its cold hardiness, and I myself lost three Agastache plants during a wet winter.
But this plant produces a surprisingly long flowering bloom, and it also looks great in formal flower beds and cottage gardens, as you can see here in Kathy’s rustic cottage garden.
Agastache ‘Blackadder’ is pollinator friendly and flowers from mid-summer through to autumn.
chrysanthemum
The chrysanthemums at Hall Park were not yet in bloom when I visited, but they are such a beautiful plant to have in a late autumn garden that I knew I wanted to include them. People associate chrysanthemums with big, flashy competition flowers and think they are difficult to grow, but they are hardy plants that require less care than dahlias and are less susceptible to slugs.
Chrysanthemums flower for about three months from early autumn until the first frost, and in my garden, they are often the last flowers left.
In my garden, Chrysanthemum ‘Burnt Orange’ blooms for 2-3 months from autumn until the first frost. For more information on growing chrysanthemums, check out this post.
Diaskia (Twin Spar)
Diasias are not as cold hardy as most of the other plants on this list, but Quentin thinks they are often overlooked. Centenary Gardens is home to a variety of Diasias, including the pretty pink Diasia personata, which flowers from spring through to autumn.
Diaskia ‘Classic White’ is a long-flowering plant that is perfect for borders. Unless you’re in an area with extremely mild winters, you’ll need to buy or sow a new one each year, but the long flowering season makes it worth it. Note that the flower borders in Centenary Gardens are a little higher. This means the flowers are more visible and they drain better, so the plants are less likely to die back in a rainy winter.
Gaura (now Oenethera) “Rosie Hardy”
The borders of Hall Park are planted with several varieties of Gaura (now renamed Oenethera). All are very long-flowering, usually blooming for about four months from mid-summer. This pretty pink one is ‘Rosie Hardy’ and is about 2 feet (90cm) tall.
The better known Gaura lindheimerei is twice as tall and produces white flowers with pink tips that bloom for up to six months starting in midsummer.
Oenesella (scientific name: Rosy Hardy) is a pretty pink gaura that has been flowering for many months at Hall Park.
Helenium, Penstemon, Kniphofia ‘Thompsonii’
This stunning autumn grouping features three long-flowering plants. If you pick off the helenium flower heads you can enjoy the flowers for up to two months.
And penstemons are one of the longest-flowering plants in the border.
Kniphofia (red hot poker) often produces vibrant color in early to mid-summer, but it doesn’t always last long, but Quentin says that ‘Thompsoni’ produces flower spikes that continue to bloom throughout summer and fall.
Helenium ‘September Fox’, Penstemon ‘Garnet’, Kniphofia ‘Thompsonii’
Aster (Kalimeris incisa)
Paul Seaborn of Pelham Plants (see garden microclimate advice) thinks the Calimeris, or Japanese aster, is a much-overlooked plant. The plant produces tiny blue flowers from summer through to autumn, and you don’t even need to deadhead it to keep blooming, says Paul.
Chrysanthemum (Calymeris incisa), a member of the Asteraceae family, flowers for four months starting in midsummer.
Salvia ‘Nachtlinder’
Salvia ‘Nachtlinder’ flowers from midsummer until the first frost. All salvias are very long-lasting flowering plants, but salvias ‘Greggy’ and ‘Microphylla’ flower for up to six months at a time. Find out more about salvias from the UK’s leading salvia expert, William Dyson.
Stonecrop/Hylotelephium (formerly Sedum) ‘Red Potash’
Hall Park Gardens is home to several varieties of stonecrop/sedum, including ‘Matrona’, ‘Autumn Joy’ and ‘Red Kali’, and Quentin Stark says these plants are particularly suitable for the front of flower beds.
Hylotelephium ‘Red Cauli’ is the deepest red of all stonecrops and blooms for many months.
Society Garlic (Trubagia)
Society garlic (Tulbaghia) flowers continuously for many months at a time.
Watch a video of the beautiful floral borders at Hall Park Gardens
Check out this video to see the beautiful flowerbeds at Round Hall Park Gardens, plus some planting tips from Quentin.
Pin to Remember Long-Blooming Plants for Late-Season Beauty
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