Everblooming daylily cultivars.

For late summer, you can't beat hardy hibiscus (mulch well in your zone for the first winter and have LOTS of patience - they don't reappear for me until late May or early June!) Also Russian Sage and ÂAlma Potschke asters (remember to cut them back at - preferably twice - before the begining of July and then leave them alone). Purple coneflowers and 'David' phlox for mid-late July bloom (stick with the older varieties of coneflowers rather than the newer ones with iffy hardiness.) Delphiniums should do really well in early July in your zone if the soil is to their liking - I prefer the Magic Fountains or Clear Springs ones that don't require staking.

Here in zone 4, with the tall bearded iris long finished as well as the peonies, in all the beds I do have echoed plantings - or at least variations on a theme. My daylilies (other than Stella d'Oros which have just finished their first big flush) are now cranking up and blooming with the last of the Asiatic lilies, Walkers Low nepeta, blue platycodon, pink baby's breath, sedums yet to show color, and feverfew.

I don't like anything to overtake the peonies; the Walkers Low could, but it has such a lovely wispy aspect, you can see the peony blooms through it.

Annual fill ins carry me through until the first killing frost - get a lot of bang for the buck with petunias, statice (Limonium Sinuatum), osteospermum, alyssum, impatiens, pansies, dianthus Chinensis...

Our season is pretty short for the "ever blooming" daylilies - do get another light round or two on the Stellas. And might get the same kind of repeat if I had the Happy Returns, Happy Ever Appster, Ruby Stella, etc. etc. Ever bloomning is kind of a joke for me, but I suppose a scape or two each with a bud or two counts. :-)

The tall garden phlox haven't started yet and the scattered stands of Lilium Tigrinum are just about to explode - both those carry well into September.

Funny you should ask about Baptisia. What happens now in my bed with baptisia is the C-group clematis 'Gravetye Beauty'. It's in its 3rd or 4th year and it very subtly infiltrates the whole bed, putting red flowers throughout, starting from ground level each year.

It's just dark enough for the flash at the moment so my photos haven't turned out well; I'll try tomorrow.

KarinL

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions! Asters, balloon flowers, baby's breath, daylilies and clematis all really appeal to me.

A couple of photos of the clematis dancing through the baptisia. This works relatively effortlessly, as the clematis wants to grow south toward the sun and I happen to have planted it at the north end of the bed. It's maybe in its fourth year, and travels about ten or twelve feet. I make an effort to train it up at the beginning of the year, but it pretty much charts its own course.

KarinL

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Geranium 'Rozeanne' would twine through your plants the same way as the clematis. And blooms until frost.

I don't mean to hijack, but got a question for Karinl: I'm so thrilled with your idea of using clematis with the baptisia. I've always wondered what to do about that area after my baptisia is finished blooming and I've just rescued my clematis Jackmani that had been languishing in a really bad location (too much shade). It's sprouted lots of new growth in its pot and soon as the weather cools I need to get it in the ground. Should I just plant it in that new area by the baptisia and let it grow along the ground or do I need to provide some kind of support structure - or does the baptisia (and other nearby plants) provide enough support for it to climb up? Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Pat