Late summer perennials

There's a spell in late August when the garden can hit the doldrums. Late summer is a tricky time, when the main razzmatazz is over and plants start to tire.

Get the show going again with some of the many perennials you'll find in our garden centre which are at their best in late summer. Here are our top ten:

Helenium 'Moorheim Beauty' starts in July: its coppery-red daisy like flowers go on for months

Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji' froths with fragrant white flowers into autumn

Aconitum 'Sparks Variety' flowers till late September with spires of midnight blue

Plume poppy (Macleaya microcarpa) is a dramatic, towering perennial with handsome foliage

Red hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria) has spires of tubular flowers from red to pale yellow

Aster 'Little Carlow' is one of many Michaelmas daisies, with cheerful lilac flowers

Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert' carries pure white flowers on dancing stems till autumn

Penstemon 'Garnet' has deep wine red foxglove-like spires till October

Sedum 'Ruby Glow' tops succulent purple leaves with flat ruby-red flowerheads

Crocosmia 'Lucifer' produces fiery red sprays of tubular flowers from August

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in Enniskerry for more information and advice about perennials that look good in late summer.