Colors of August

By Julie Reiff

Crushed stone paths wind their way through a profusion of blooms—a flush of gold, pink, and purple hues.

Too late I stayed—forgive the crime;

Unheeded flew the hours;

How noiselessly falls the foot of Time!

That only treads on flowers!

—William Robert Spencer

Step through the gates of the Habitat For All Garden and you are surrounded by color, a flush of gold, pink, and purple hues. Crushed stone paths wind their way through a profusion of blooms that are a far cry from the tired, late summer plants in my own yard. Five minutes in the Habitat For All Garden can inspire any of us to think differently about our gardens.

For many gardeners, August can be a less than exciting month. The heady blooms of June seem a distant memory; perhaps we’ve lost a little enthusiasm after an invasion of beetles or an extended drought. But here at Valentine Farm there is hope and inspiration!

A shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum prolificum) will bloom all summer long if sheared back and is clearly a real bee magnet.

The main purpose of the HFA garden after all, is to do just that—inspire us to transform our personal landscapes and inspire each of us to take small steps to reconnect with nature.

In late summer, wild meadows are dominated by goldenrods and asters, by black-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s lace. You will find those in the HFA garden, too, including Solidago speciosa and S. sempervirens. Tall white asters (Doellingeria umbellata), early for that genus of late bloomers and the same ones that grow along the roadside, are a hub of insect activity.

Garden designer, Mike Murphy, has included a variety of plants that meet the needs of the pollinators’ complete life cycles. That means an assortment of plants that bloom throughout the season. It also means plants designed to attract and feed specific insects.

The tall, pale green Ptelia trifoliata (also known as hop tree or wafer ash), is a host plant for giant swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, which we observed in the garden last year and hope to again. Mike says he generally prunes these hard every spring so they send out a flush of bright yellow stems.

The tall, pale green Ptelia trifoliata (no, it’s not poison ivy), is a host plant for giant swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.

A shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum prolificum) has taken a while to establish, Murphy says, but is clearly a real bee magnet now; sheared back, it blooms all summer. A floppy, purple Salvia verticillata is likewise covered in young bees, as is the anise-scented Agastache foeniculum. 

Garden designer Mike Murphy has introduced some unusual color variations of common plants, like this Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota 'Dara').

Murphy also experimented with unusual colors of Queen Anne's lace and yarrow, both popular with pollinators. 

There's also a white variety of  Joe Pye weed. The traditional purple Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum) towers above some of the annuals and perennials near the front of the garden, but in the newer section toward the back Mike and Barbara have planted more shrubs and trees–which tend to bloom early — to attract birds as well as insects. Here, an Asian Seven Sun flower (Heptacodium miconioides) is just now blooming, chosen to coincide with the arrival of monarch butterflies.

And of course, August means we’re approaching the (5th!) Annual Monarch Festival, which promises to be better than ever this year. September brings the Homegrown Food Festival, now in its second year. We hope to see you at one or both.

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