Rain helps late summer blooms, check these flowers out

It was wonderful to wake up to a garden revived by an early morning summer rain.

Spring might be be my favorite season for flowers, but the end of summer can be sweet too. These plants can take hot, dry weather and enjoy the rain when they can get it.

I inherited lots of phlox when I moved into my current home. There’s lots of the old-fashioned purple flowers, but my favorite has creamy white petals with rose pink center that I just love. It really stands out in the garden, bees, butterflies and other pollinators enjoy it even more than me.

This bumblebee enjoys the day in my favorite phlox. Photos by Doug Oster Tribune Review

I found a moonflower vine in a four inch pot at Hahn Nursery that they were almost giving away. I’d always wanted to grow the annual, but never got around to it. The plant forms beautiful coiled buds which open in the afternoon. I don’t know which is more beautiful, the buds or pure white flowers. The fragrance is sweet and hangs in the summer air.

When the buds of the moonflower vine look like this, they will unfurl in hours.

The pure white blooms of moonflowers open in the late afternoon and release an intoxicating perfume.

Another great late blooming perennial is ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford.’ I’ve been growing it since it was released a decade ago and it’s a real winner. The plant has bronze and purple foliage followed by orange/yellow daisy like flowers. It’s an indestructible shade lover that should outlive the gardener.

Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ is a winner in the shade.

Jewelweed is actually a type of wild impatiens and I always leave a few around because I think they are beautiful but also great for pollinators.

Is jewelweed a weed? You be the judge.

Dahlias grow from tubers under the ground which can be saved from year to year, but are frost sensitive. They are in full glory this time of the year and will continue to bloom all the way through September or beyond, depending on the weather.

Dahlias can be saved by digging the tuber at the end of the year.