Congratulations!

I looked over my August/September garden journal entries for the past few years, and find that the following plants are carrying the show at that time:

Morning glory
White cleome
Salvia victoria blue

Good luck--I'm sure your garden will be lovely!

I have a wonderful idea for you...not about flowers. My brother was married in my mother's garden on August 27th one year. My husband and I sent several monarch butterfly chrysalises to my brother and his fiance that arrived just before their wedding. I don't remember how we planned out the timing (this was 12 years ago), but the butterflies emerged the night of the rehearsal dinner. They had previously placed the chrysalises near the many container plants (including verbena, if I recall correctly) that flanked the "altar" set up on the lawn. All during the wedding ceremony the next day, the butterflies stayed put on those flowers...visible to all as my brother and his wife said their vows. Most people thought they were fake and were delighted and amazed to find out that they were real butterflies. It was such a wonderful touch and I was so happy it worked out so well for them.

As to plants, perhaps put some gladiolas in now as they will emerge around that time and look great with the roses. Also, perhaps some russian sage and lavendar.

Patty

What a compliment on your gardening and design skills!

My memory is that Brent and Becky's Bulbs have a large variety of summer flowering tubers and tropical bulbs. You could order dahlias in single colors there and probably come up with some other ideas on their website. (easily found with Google.)

Other annual flowers that can usually be found as seed or starter plants and come in white or cool colors (lime, blue, pale yellow), among others: nicotiana, sweet alyssum, geraniums, snapdragons, nerembergia, cosmos (comes in white as well as all the pink tones), petunias, and some of the less hardy sages come in whites and blues and have ornamental foliage as well.

You could plant annual vines, though the ones I plant won't help you since I plant for humming birds and look for bright colors. Maybe a white or pale pink mandevilla vine? Black eyed susan vine?

For clematis to bloom this year you'd need to start with large plants, type 3 (summer bloomers). Is there anywhere in your area that carries good-sized clematis or could you mail or web order from someone like Silver Star Vinery, which I hear has huge root systems on their plants? If you want to find some perennials, they also would have to be large enough to bloom, but Montauk daisy, balloon flower, bee balm, aster, some of the smaller sunflowers are all possibilites. (You'd probably best check with more local gardeners to see which might be blooming then for you since I'm quite a bit inland of the coast.) Some of the reblooming (like Happy Returns) or very late-flowering daylilies (go to that forum & ask for suggestions) might be blooming then. Would any of the later flowering white astilbes still be flowering? Campanula, like white or blue clips? Several types of veronica or nepeta might be blooming then.

Hydrangeas - some of the hardier, bloom-on-new-wood types of H. macrophylla like All Summer Beauty or Endless Summer (which now comes as white bluished pink as well as blue) bloom for me all summer. Hydrangea Annabelle or other forms of H. arborescens and various forms of H. paniculata (Little Lamb, Peegee, The Swan, Limelight, Pinky Winky, etc.) should also have flowers then.

Another thing to consider would be foliage. Plants with variegated or colored foliage include many shrubs are easily found in nurseries (Proven Winners brand has a bunch.) There are several types of Euonymus, red-twigged variegated dogwood, Japanese maples (if you can grow them in your zone?), several weigela, a couple kinds of sambucus (elderberries) among others, that are pretty readily available. Hostas, heuchera, tiarella, heucherella, vinca, sedges, grasses (which would have blossoms or seeds then also) all are commonly found with varegated or colored foliage. Plants with fuzzy white or silver foliage also provide contast, and these can be found as annuals, perennials and herbs.

Plants with interesting foliage texture and form might be something to consider - one of my personal favorites is Walker weeping Siberian pea shrub (Caragana arborescens 'Walkeri') which has yellow spring flowers, but then the rest of the year is a small weeping tree with lovely finely dissected ferny leaves. Foliage contast of large leaves with small, round with linear, etc. will add interest, even without blooms. You probably already have this, but I thought I'd mention it, just to give you some food for thought when looking at your garden for interest in a low bloom time.

A final thought - this might be a good excuse to make or buy some hardscape you want (if you are like me and always looking for a good excuse to add to the garden) - trellis, birdbath, path or patio . . . and this may also be chosen to add a focal point of color - bright blue glazed pot or birdbath, painted garden chair, white-painted arbor.

How exciting!

Nicotiana started from seed now, or bought *small* in six-packs, should be in bloom at the end of August, and the fragrance will add a lot to the event. Lavender might also work very well, and would look nice with whatever roses are in bloom. You could buy lots of small lavender now - some of mine are just starting to leaf out, while some in the nurseries appear to be ready to bloom (I'd stay away from those!).

I love the peachy varieties of agastache, which bloom in late August, and they are readily available, though not especially hardy. Gaura should be blooming then too - I have many, many seedlings if you'd like to try it. Both of those are awfully informal, and might not fit into your design very well. Perovskia would be in bloom, at least here. That's quite inexpensive, has nice foliage, and blooms its first year.

Can you pinch any of the roses to delay the bloom? That might be a really bad idea, I'm just throwing it out for consideration.

Wow, how cool! You must be very flattered!

A year or so ago I was asked to prepare a garden for an August bridal shower (which never happened - the engagement was broken off), but below is the link to the info I got here when I posted.

Best of luck to you, and please show us pictures!!!!!!! Your garden must be beautiful if they asked to be married in it!

:)
Dee

P.S. When I did a search to find my old thread, there were several others. Perhaps you could do a search here on "august blooming flowers" and see what turns up. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: August bloomers

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions!! Babs, I do have weigela Wine & Roses, just bought the black elderberry, have Endless Summer and an Annabelle, (I should pick up some more hydrangea) and two J. maples. Also have sumac 'Tiger Eyes', crab apple with purple-red foliage, red-twigged dogwood, and started from seed salvia 'Blue Velvet'--supposed to be a foliage plant a little similiar to lamb's ears but bluer and less aggressive. I do have a clematis that sometimes repeats in Aug., would like to get my hands on sweet autumn clematis if it blooms at that time in Aug. Shade is limited in my garden as most of it falls under our Norway maple, where hardly anything will grow. I do have some hostas off to the side of it.

I have some huge terra cotta (and fake terra cotta) pots as well as cobalt blue glazed. Cobalt blue is sort of my signature color in the garden, and I have a teuteur (with sweet peas, which I hope aren't petered out by Aug. but probably will be) painted that color blue as well as furniture and the trim color on one of my garden sheds.

Most of my roses are English and will repeat all summer well into Oct., no pinching needed, so that should carry a lot of color, unless we're in the midst of massive drought/heatwave then. I'm sure this summer I will make an effort to keep up on the watering!

I did start some agastache (Purple Pygmy) from seed this year, first time growing agastache. Would like to try gaura but possibly not hardy.

So I went today to Green Mt. Transplants (lifesaver) and picked up masses of annuals. Got a bunch of annual asters, pink and white cleomes and the Sparkler Blush kind, lisianthus in purple, pink and white (I grew this before and remember it bloomed late and is beautiful--looks like a rose), angelonia in white and purple, 'Sweet cream' marigolds to dress up the veg. garden, 'Heaven Scent' purple nicotiana, zinnia 'Benary's Giant' mixed colors, and some more liatris. Probably a few others I can't remember. Grabbed just about anything that came in cool colors and grows tall enough to stand out in the garden vs. little container. The mixed zinnias will be a wild card but I plan on placing them in the rear daylily garden, not with the roses. They are all in my greenhouse now.

We reconstructed our garden last year after having an addition put on our house. So the perennial garden was transformed into an "informal English" rose garden, with perennials mixed in. We put in a lot of hardscape elements since then with blue stone stepping stone paths, antique arbor, urns, etc. , but there's always room for more interesting pieces if I'm able to spend the $. Which I really can't afford to go overboard with for a one day event, heaven knows I've spent way too much money on my garden as it is. I usually don't do too many annuals but since I now need to rely on having color in late August, I went hogwild at GMT. Even if they call off the engagement, my garden is going to be very full this year!

I took divisions of my client's dahlias, I now have purple, orange, and lavender. We'll pot these so we can move them around where needed.

I will have to ask the bride what her colors are. They are going to do a walk-thru next week so we can figure how to set them up. The arbor they want to get married under is covered with 'Constance Spry' rose, which unfortunately blooms only in June.

Dee, thanks for the link. I took note of some of the perennials that will be in bloom at that time, and will pick some up if I find good enough specimens--I worry that with a first-year planting they will not have filled out enough to make a difference by August, or not bloom the first year, etc. So I guess that's why I'm leaning toward annuals. The thread also reminded me of pinching to delay blooms, which I will do to my phlox.

barefoot in ct, I forgot to add, what a wonderful idea about the monarchs! We have a patch of milkweed around the corner, and nearly every year since my daughter's been in 1st grade, we "kennel" some monarch caterpillars and watch them morph. I do remember one year one of the butterflies had just come out of its chrysalis--I set it down in the garden next to a nectar plant and it just kind of "hung out" there all day. The kids were fascinated. I think what we'll do is try to get some caterpillars a couple weeks before the event and hope for butterflies the day of the event. It takes approx. 10 days in chrysalis stage, and my daughter's former 1st grade teacher taught me to spot caterpillars the right size that are nearly ready to spin their chrysalis, so maybe we can time it.

One small suggestion to add to your plant list: aster mongolica.

Mine are in full bloom by the third week of August. If you plant some soon (and pinch a couple of times in June to shorten and to delay bloom) you be rewarded with the cutest white buttons with yellow centers. They start out with a lavender hue that turns white. They even self-deadhead.

From everything you've written about your garden and from what everyone has suggested, it will be gorgeous!! (Wow, and butterflies!)

Judye

Well, duh! Of course, I should have thought before I typed and realized you needed this stuff for THIS August before I posted that link. Sorry. Feeling a bit sheepish here. But anyway, I think your garden will be spectacular.
The annual asters are a very elegant flower, IMO, and you can't go wrong with the dahlias either.

Please try to post some pictures - both of the garden and the wedding.

:)
Dee

re: butterflies
there is a place in south Deerfield Ma called Magic Wings full of butterflies and I think you can buy chrysalis' there. It's worth the daytrip just to see. Hope this helps.

Wow, you all have great suggestions. I love the thread.....butterflies, flowers, gardens, and a late august wedding.
Well, a few years ago I went to an outdoor wedding that was set at dusk and had a trellis covered in moonflowers. It looked great.
Also, I looked at last years pix and in bloom aside from previously mentioned stuff, I noticed hardy hibiscus and rose of sharon. Also hydrangeas, coneflowers, butterfly bushes, and gaura are going strong that time of year as previously mentioned.
Enjoy the planning.

A suggestion for the arbor...a friend of mine buys roses at Christmas (lots of them)and puts then in those little floral tubes and places them in her Christmas tree. You could buy those tubes and use roses from your garden and then wire them to your rose on the arbor. It would make it look like it is in bloom. Great for pictures. While you are at it, (or someone else), you could add other florist flowers like lillies. I would think that the bride and groom could help out with the cost of this. Just a thought.

southshore, I have those little floral tubes--maybe I'll try that.

Sunshineboy--moonflowers. I have a love/hate relationship going with them. Love how they open at night, fragrance, etc., but boy are they hard to grow here. Take forever to bloom and by that time it's almost first frost.

We usually have a BBQ that week, and I know the glads are always in bloom for me then.

It sounds like your garden will be beautiful. I think the annuals are a great idea. I looked at last year's photos around the end of August and the annuals were coming into their prime.

I like tall showy annuals and the Cosmos, Cut & Come Again Zinnias, and Cleome looked really good at the end of August.

August 31:
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September 9:
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A thought for the arbor:

I wonder if anyone has tried growing Stephanotis floribunda vines in NE? It's not hardy, but it's a classic wedding flower (fragrant) and blooms in the summer. I don't know how late summer.

Either in containers or in the ground it might grow nicely up the arbor.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Stephanotis floribunda

Thanks Claire, but I'm not sure the jasmine would put on enough growth in a pot to make an impact on the arbor.

Terrene, thanks for the pics. Gives me encouragement!

veilchen,
Congratulations, what a wonderful compliment your friends have paid you and I am sure it is well deserved. As you have already stated it is a difficult time in the garden, summer blooms are beginning to fade and yet it is too early for a fall display. I too was going to add to some of the terrific late flowering suggestions above until I came across the two following photo's taken on September 5th, 2006 in a neighboring town. One of the things that I find striking about these two different shop front plantings is the first photo depends on foliage of house plants and annuals for color, form, and texture, and even this late in the season it looks fresh, well balanced, and full of color. These colors for a wedding are all wrong but that certainly could be modified.

kt, the top photo is right up my alley, but I have to restrain myself from choosing foliage plants right now that clash with the soft colors of the garden. I did just buy some lime green impomea to go along with my magenta impatiens in the window box on the teal/cobalt blue shed. And couldn't resist 'Key Lime Pie' heuchera for that area.

I think I'll be all set with the annuals and dahlias in pots, and I'll pick more things up as I see them.