By BARBARA AXELSON | Photos by Amanda Temple

From the August/September 2006 Issue

Lake Magazine covers the hottest information on the Lake Michigan area.

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While we think of spring as planting time, many potted plants can be put into the ground in August and September. Given new homes in the soil then, plants have time to establish themselves before the first frost — and they don’t have to face their first hot, grueling summer while still babies.

Here are some plant picks that will still put on a good show this year if planted now:Coreopsis ‘moonbeam’ is a profuse bloomer with cheerful yellow flowers to attract butterflies. It sports a threadlike leaf and doesn’t appeal to deer.

The aptly named bugbane is an insect-repelling perennial that thrives in partially shaded moist soil. Tall and slender, it is spiked with tiny white flowers that bend gracefully at the tops. It’s deer-resistant, too.

The New England daisy draws the butterflies. It is a member of the vast aster family that grows especially well in autumn — a good companion to those richly colored late-season beauty queens, chrysanthemums. A dictionary on the language of flowers suggests that chrysanthemums say “you’re a wonderful friend.”

For her late-summer preference, Coleen Casey, the owner of Riviera Gardens in Union Pier, Mich., taps the Japanese anemone, clothed with surprisingly resilient, airy flowers on tall stems. She suggests pairing them with hardy geraniums to produce a brilliant landscape in rock gardens.

Barbara Sossoman at Hunzickers Landscape Nursery, which features viewable acres of assorted plants and trees in Niles, Mich., admires the contorted filbert or corkscrew hazel, which sways in the wind and is distinguished for masses of intricately twining branches. Although not as colorful as winter’s ubiquitous red twig dogwood, the filbert provides a natural focal point in the garden. Its uniquely shaped winter silhouette is more attractive than its blooming phase, when leaves appear slightly wilted. Hardy, with few demands, it has a dense root system and requires a bit of stamina to transplant.

Gardeners may be bewildered by the rich choice in grasses. Available in many heights and hues, giant grasses and their shorter cousins can bring a garden together and act as a setting for smaller plantings.

Casey likes the award-winning Karl Foerster, which she describes as a very architectural plant. Five- to six-feet tall, the feather reed grass has shiny dark green foliage. Moving gracefully at the slightest breeze, the fast-growing screening plant is a stunning accent. Upright flower stems last through winter as colors progress from shades of pink to wheat. It grows best in full or partial sun.

Prairie grasses are good choices because of their hardiness: plumes left on through winter make a showy platform for snow. An especially appealing grass is blue fescue – or Elijah Blue, so called because of blue leaves and purplish flowers. Another favorite, Japanese blood grass, is a clump-forming, ornamental grass that stands about 18-inches tall. “It’s just gorgeous,” Casey says, who suggests using its bright reds for garden accents.

In dry areas and rocky terrain, sedum or lavender will do well, and so will Russian sage, whose silvery foliage and spires of purple flowers stand out in any crowd.

With all these attractive choices, it’s clear: the garden doesn’t have to fade into late-summer blahs. You can keep it alert and colorful with some well-chosen season extenders.