Well, just because the calendar says summer is over doesn't mean you have to be without color in the garden. Much of California is encased in our usual Indian summer weather, and we already know that September and much of October are traditionally some of our hottest months. All of our so-called summer bedding plants -- if planted anew now -- will bloom well into November and even into December, depending on when heavy frost arrives in your part of the state.
You have a several choices when it comes to color this time of year. One, you can cut back leggy and spent bedding plants already in your garden and have them rebloom. They'll take a few weeks for new buds to form, but you'll get a "second season" out of many annuals that you may have thought were pretty much done for the year. Two, you can plant new summer bedding plants, including petunias, impatiens and marigolds. Again, all of these will bloom well into winter in most areas of California and, if you live along the coast, will bloom right through winter. Finally, three, you can plant new fall/winter bedding plants. Things like pansies, violas, snapdragons, cineraria and cyclamen will bloom through winter wherever you live in California.
Even if it's 90 degrees outside, there's a bedding plant to grow and bloom for you. One of the easiest ways to display color is with containers or hanging baskets. You can get color right where you need it most -- whether it's a front porch or back patio. Annual verbena is an ideal specimen for containers or hanging baskets. They come in a variety of bright bolors, including purple, red, pink and white. One of the most impressive is a new variety called "Imagination," which is bright purple. Portulaca also offers brighter-than-bright flowers on succulent-like foliage that is similar to iceplant groundcover. There's also a relatively new miniature petunia series called "Fantasy," that comes in 11 colors and won't get tall and leggy like traditional petunias.
One-gallon landscape plants you may consider include hanging lantana and bougainvillea. Bougainvillea offers the brightest red flowers around, as well as lavender, orange and white, Lantana, at least the hanging version, comes in lavender, yellow, orange-red and white.
All these options can be complemented with things like herbs: parsley, rosemary and oregano. Even tall summer annuals like marigolds and zinnias can be planted in the center of larger containers.
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