Echinacea, Perovskia, Lilium 'Black Beauty', Rose 'Double Knockout', Clematis 'Juuli', Hemerocallis 'Planet Max' Verbena bonariensis

So this area is droughty, right? Is there little suplimental water going to garden to allow some less than drought tolerant plants?

Some drought tolerant plants in my garden:
Perovskia (Russian Sage). Silvery folaige and lovely sprays of purple flowers.

Echinops (Globe Thistle). Between three to four feet tall or more. Bright blue (or white, depending on cultivar) globes of flowers.

Agastache- various kinds and colors

Less than drought tolerant plants blooming in my garden:

Eupatoriums (Joe-Pye-Weed), lovely clouds of dusky pink starting. Not a very drought tolerant plant though.

Phlox- various kinds and colors

Heleniums- one of my favorite plants. Colors range mostly from yellows to reds and oranges.

Crocosmia- yellows, reds, and oragnes.
CMK

Not growing in my garden right now but I see gorgeous phlox and Joe Pye Weed everywhere right now. And soon asters.

Tall garden phlox, balloon flowers, perovskia, nepeta, some second flush on salvias, burgundy daylilies, feverfew.

Off the top of my head:
Phlox
Allium - white and lavender/blue shades
Clematis - reblooming now
Mum Clara Curtis - pink and early this year.

Are there any shadier spots in your perennial border? Maybe you could divide your purple coneflowers in the fall & put some in a somewhat shadier location for hot summer bloom?

Clematis Rooguchi blooms pretty blue bell flowers from June to Sept-Oct.

Tall Phlox

* Hibiscus moscheutos - a *must-have* for the late summer garden!!

* Echinacea

* Buddleia

My annual geraniums look fantastic - love geraniums because those big, vibrant flower heads pack a lot of a punch for not a lot of plants.

in addition to what others have mentioned:
heliopsis lemon queen- 4-6'H, lemon yellow, not gold
veronicastrum, off white/pink wands
pink lespedeza- bush clover; long bloooming;highly drought tolerant
aconitum fisherii- tall spindly, deep ppl flowers
kirengeshoma- light yellow shuttlecock flowers; moisture
clematis duchess of albany; betty corning
lonicera heckrotii
clematis herachlifolium
hydrangea kyushu
macleaya- pale pink tiny bloom sprays. 6'h+
persicaria polymorpha- 4-5'tall white astilbe blooms
monarda (whacked by half in july)
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

Thank you all. It's been disheartening to see my border, so beautiful in late June and early July, look so bleh.

CMK--yes, it's a somewhat dry area due to tree-root competition, but especially so since we've had very little rain lately and fierce temps.

River Crossroads--some of them are in part shade, it's just been so hot and dry that they are fried, I guess. I like to leave the dead flowers on the plant so the goldfinches can have the seeds, but I'm debating cutting them back to get some unfaded blooms as the weather cools...

Based on everyone's lists, I think I'll try phlox. I moved into a house with an established clump many years ago and loved it, but everywhere else I've lived it was a mildew disaster. I'll look into the resistant varieties...

Mystic Spires Salvia (positively gorgeous with yellows/golds)

Salvia farinacea (shorter. Annual. Beautiful.)

Crown Jewels Hibiscus

Oh So Easy Paprika Rose

Cannas: especially Australia, would be great with your golds

Zinnia elegans (Annuals, but have been gorgeous through a month of 100 degrees. That's pretty good!)

Limelight hydrangeas are blooming and would be lovely with golden daisies

Well, everyone beat me to everything I thought of, lol - well, except for lobelia cardinalis and syphilitica, but they usually prefer moister soil, so don't know if they will work for you in that spot.

I've got anemones blooming now, but that's just weird - they usually don't bloom until September, at least.

I know it's an annual, but one thing that might look great with your golds is tithonia. Gorgeous bold orange blooms that grab everybody's attention. Love it! (and to think I used to hate orange!)

:)
Dee

Other than what was already mentioned I have these in bloom right now:
- Lilium speciosum
- Hosta plantaginea
- Hydrangea quercifolia
- Hydrangea 'Annabelle'
- Miscanthus sinensis 'Yaku Jima'
- Monarda didyama 'Gardenview Scarlet' - some stragglers
- Northern Seaoats
- Euphorbia marginata
- Carex greyii
- Geranium 'Rozanne' sprawling 4+ ft. rather than up
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is beginning to turn pink
- Viburnum opulus compactum berries are getting redder by the day
- Rattlesnake Masters

This would be the perfect thread with so many late season blooming flowers and seeing how people use them in the garden (and how the plant looks this time of year)...so sad I didn't even see one, lol.

leafy, David is a great mildew resistant late white phlox.

Would you plse tell us a bit about Kentucky?; I don't know of any other Perennial GWers from there. i am surprised you are only z.6 (southern MA and CT are z.6) so would you educate me a little plse? does it snow where you are? how cold does it usually get and what's an average hot day in july? i can't figure out why you're not at least z.7+ ,like N.C.

and your soil- is most of KY rich 'bluegrass' soil? where the mining is (eastern ky?)is that not rich soil at the surface level?

i've alw heard that KY is such a beautiful state and i have a very old friend in louisville, so i'm hoping to visit one day.........

best,
mindy

I'll second the vote for Zinnias. I was just saying the other day, thank goodness I planted them. They are pretty much carrying the show right now.

I have ornamental oregano Herrenhausen that's still doing well after several weeks. Today I noticed my beautyberry shrubs are just beginning to turn purple! I have "Early Amethyst," an earlier variety. Green Jewel coneflower still looks decent, but like yours, all my coneflowers are looking a little toasted. David Phlox is still doing well - and no mildew with this one!

Mindy, I'll be happy to tell you about Kentucky but I'm no expert--we moved here less than two years ago. It is hot, but no hotter than Philadelphia, which is where we lived before. We get about 6" more rain per year than Philly, but otherwise it feels about the same to me, and the soil is similar--very clay.

It does snow, though it rarely lasts on the ground for more than a few days at one time. Ice storms are pretty common and damaging. An average hot day in July is probably in the high 80's but this year has been very hot with many days in the mid to high 90's and heat advisories, which is why my plants suffered so while I was away. I arranged watering for the new transplants, but not the established plants.

I am growing most of the same flowers and shrubs I grew in Philadelphia, with some that are new to me, too. Hydrangea Annabelle is new for me, Clethra alnifolia, fothergilla, Sweet Bay magnolia, etc.

I am going to try the David phlox if I can find it, and look through everyone's list for more purple--I think that is what I'm missing when I look out there!

Well, whaas, you made me feel guilty so I went out and took a few pics. Bad pics, but nonetheless...

This is one of my several tithonia plants. Now that I look at the photo, I'm thinking I shouldn't post it because the plant looks so much better "in person". It is covered in vibrant orange blooms which grab your eye from far away. The bees love it!

Quite breezy today so it was a bit difficult to get a good shot:

{{gwi:260261}}

I think they are too orange for my camera! (or maybe just for my monitor). The color is too saturated and you can't really see the bloom, but you get the idea!

{{gwi:260262}}

Dee

indigo (indigofera), passiflora incarnata, echinacea, great blue lobelia, hydrangea 'Limelight', Japanese anemone 'Windflower', nepeta, calamenthe, scarlet runner beans, aster 'Ghengis Khan' (this false aster blooms non-stop from early summer until frost as long as I keep shearing spent blooms), roses: 'Pilgrim', 'Tradescant', 'Peggy Martin', glossy abelia (hummingbird & butterfly magnet). Monarda is starting its second flush. Garden phlox 'David' and 'Franz Schubert' are looking awfully tired after all the heat, but still a little bloom coming. Salvias should be on second flush, but I cut them back late. Hosta 'Guacamole' should be blooming now, but is a bit too shaded this year as the magnolia has grown ... time to move it. Chelone 'Hot Lips' and sedum 'Autumn Joy' will soon be in bloom. In dappled shade, fern-leaf bleeding heart (dicentra eximia) is putting out new leaves and will soon have its second flush of bloom.

All of the above are pink, lavender to blue, or white, with the exception of roses 'Pilgrim' (pale yellow) and 'Tradescant' (deep red), monarda (red), and the scarlet runner beans which are, of course, scarlet.

I don't have one, but I see that the crape myrtles around here are all still blooming vigorously.