Quick growing, very showy flowers?

Question

I am getting married in September, and there will be a ton of ppl around my house.

I am looking for ideas on sprucing up the outside of it. It is a 1899 fieldstone farmhouse. I have one strip of garden (about 12 feet long, 3 feet wide) beside my front door. So far int here I have some hostas, dahlias, bleeding heart (which is DYING!) clematis (also dying rapidly), lavender, and gladiolis.

I want to add some colour to the garden. The glads are probably not going to be flowering by Sept 6 (my wedding), and who knows about the dahlias.

What flowers can I plant that will be shoing blooms and look smashing for Sept 6th?

I live in zone 5, the garden is out in full sun most of the day, and the soil is pretty rocky.

Also, I have kids and a dog, so they need to be family friendly plants. I would also plant flowery herbs!

Thanks for the input!

Answer 1

Mums and asters are the most obvious choices, they always bloom in the fall and are most readily available during that time at garden centers.  (you could probably find some smaller 1 gal size ones at garden centers now...I work at Earl May, which is in the Midwest, and we just got our first shipment.)  There are also a few varieties of sedum that bloom or turn red, yellow, and purple in the fall that you could check into.  Also, don't forget about ornamental grasses.  You can plant them any time of year but during the fall they turn those gorgeous fall colors (reds, browns, yellows, oranges)

There are also some perennials that bloom all summer and that you could probably push into the fall (with some good sun, water, and fertilizer) like cone flowers, shasta daises, and black eyed susans.  Also consider witch hazel and scotch heather for a fall flowering shrub.  And to add some foliage color, there's always barberry and burning bushes that turn bright reds and oranges.

For vines, bittersweet gives really sweet orange blooms but they can be kind of temperamental.

Hope those suggestions give you a few ideas.

Answer 2

fall rose trees

lantana maybe

check out some flowering vines, like snail vine(just the shape of the flower!) cat's claw....

some hybrids of tulips will bloom in the fall

research fall blooms but good luck because most are not quick bloomers

Answer 3

Your clematis MIGHT be dying but that bleeding heart is just going dormant in the heat of summer and will back x2 next spring.  Once it has gone completely yellow you can cut it back to the ground.

Your dahlias ought to look smashing by Sept. 6th.

You almost have to do it with annuals and hope for no frost, or try some late blooming perennials, such as:

Asters

Garden Mums

Heuchera (coralbells) or anything else with color in the leaf doesnt' need to actually be blooming for the event.  How about variegated shrubs?

Toad Lily

Dendrathema

Ornamental Grasses

Japanese Anemone

Turtlehead

Sedum Autumn Fire or Neon

It's pretty hard to predict bloom dates for anything as it is very weather dependent.  Here's what I would do.  Remember that garden centers get plants all year long.  I know you have a lot of things to do just before the event but I would get to an independent garden center or nursery about 2 weeks before your event to plug in some last minute color.   The closer you are to your event the easier it will be to predict just what will be blooming then.  Sometimes the plants for sale will not be in sync with their normal bloom time and it could work to your advantage.  

Congratulations !

Answer 4

You're bleeding heart probably isn't dying, they go dormit early in the summer

Rose of sharon flowers in the fall and will have flowers on it until the first frost.  There is also sedum which flower in the fall.  You can also plant any kind of annual flower which will have color until the first frost.

Answer 5

Congratulations!!!

Here are some plants that like sunny gardens & will bloom in September.

Daylilies: There are Daylilies that bloom all summer until frost... Stella D' Oro, Happy Returns, & Rosy Returns (the first PINK everblooming Daylily) etc. & some Daylily varieties are bred to bloom later in the year than others.  Check with your garden center to make sure you get those that will bloom in September.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiddeninthe...

Asters:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debunix/251...

Russian sage:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

Echinacea:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midimacman/...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluetiger/2...

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2398505/745...

When you dead-head Echinacea it'll keep on blooming:

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/275_e...

Mums:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

Knock-Out Roses are especially nice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiyWZtYa...

Sunflowers:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsylens/1...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackstarje...

Fall-blooming shrubs:

http://gardening.about.com/od/treesshrub...

Fall-blooming perennials:

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardendesi...

Ornamental grass for fall color:

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardendesi...

Hope you enjoy this garden tour of Daylilies, Echinacea, etc that might give you some ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8IQg0HBf...

P.S. I also live in zone 5 & have planted all these plants.

Good luck & Best Wishes for your special day :)