Denial that our season is too short is normal. No one can stop the march of senescence in the garden, but we can hide that fact from ourselves. Those places where the sweet alyssum, pansies and violas have finally given up to the hot weather need new tenants. In other places the plants that had a ground-hugging appearance in spring, now have bare ankles and could use something to hide the fact. Whatever the reason for them, fill awkward spaces so the overall look of the garden is still harmonious. Our winter memories are based more on how the garden last looked than when it was at its peak of glory.
Just in time for this need, the garden centers are trying to clear out their inventory of annuals while they are still saleable. Those four inch pots that I thought were outrageously priced when I needed a dozen of something in spring, look pretty good when I only want two or three and they are deeply discounted too. Besides, now they are bigger and will more closely match the size of the rest of the garden plants.
In one bed there had been annual phlox, a woefully underused annual, in my opinion. It is cold tolerant and available soon after the pansies are offered in spring. It comes in wonderful colors ranging from the pastel to the bold and blooms early and prolifically. Its biggest drawbacks are that it tends to be somewhat floppy in stem habit and begins to run out about the beginning of August. I just plant them more closely than recommended and let them hold each other up. Now that they have slowed down, I have moved them on to the compost heap and replaced them with half as many four inch plants to finish out the season. Since the rest of the bed has grown to the point that it shades this part, I used impatiens when I made the change. I stayed with the original color scheme, but it would be just as possible to make a new statement with a different color.
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