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ARKANSAS

By P. Allen Smith

When those long hot dog days of summer roll in, I find myself looking for a shady spot and a glass of lemonade. And my garden, by this time of year, is looking for another splash of color.
You know, there’s no better place to look than to the North American native plants like this Joe Pyeweed. Just look at this incredible color. I just love its’ dusty mauve hues. This plant is so easy to grow. It’s a perennial, will come back in your garden year after year, and you better make sure you have plenty of room ’cause it can grow to great heights.

Another late season show stopper is summer phlox. Now there are so many different cultivars and hybrids available that the original stalk is actually from native plants. And then of course there’s the Purple Cone Flower just finishing up this time of the year but nonetheless spectacular. And just look at this exuberant display of Black-Eyed Susans. It just seems like the more you turn up the heat, the better they perform. These showy flowers are particularly suited as companions to many of the native grasses which move so gracefully in the wind.

As the late summer performers fade, the show still isn’t over. We have the fall bloomers to look forward to. Soon, they’ll be taking the stage, plants such as Golden Rod, Asters, and Ageratum or Blue Mist Flower will dazzle us. So if you’d like a list of some of these plants just check out our website.

From the garden, I’m Allen Smith.
Copyright: 2003
P. Allen Smith Gardens
Hortus LTD.