Ethereal plants hold their own against garden show-offs

The late summer garden is all about bold and brash flowers both in size and color. Dahlias, zinnias coneflowers and black-eyed susans create a colorful garden with something to grab your attention at every turn.

For as much as I appreciate the ultra-saturated feast for the senses of the waning summer garden, it’s the less showy and underappreciated ethereal plants that make it come alive now.

Juxtaposition is the glue of garden design, so it makes sense that during a time of big flowers and big color, something a little less in-your-face would not only enhance the best of the bold but also potentially steal the show. It is no mistake that these two very different types of plant forms both shine at the same time.

One eye-catching example creating the perfect moment along a garden path is Thalictrum ‘Splendide,’ which should stand about 7 feet tall but has bent over so that its pea-sized lilac flowers on wiry stems nod about in front of the 5-inch flowers of a red dahlia. The effect is almost of a purple mist in front one of the brightest blooms in the garden.

A pair of annuals that thankfully reseed readily around the garden provide a similar effect, albeit at about 18 inches off the ground.

Verbena officinalis ‘Bampton’ is as prolific a reseeder as many Verbena varieties, which is great because I find it to be challenging to get started. Fortunately it only takes one plant, and after that it will reseed around a garden that’s not covered in mulch. The seedlings are easy to identify with their long, scalloped purple leaves, and it can be transplanted to wherever you want it. I’ve allowed it to pop up on the front edge of the border where it creates a purple cloud of delicate flowers on skinny stems that twist and turn.

The other excellent annual that offers a treat for anyone who gets close enough to study them is Jewels-of-Opar (Talinum paniculatum), which has succulent leaves shown off best in the chartreuse version called ‘Limon.’ The slightly shiny leaves are pretty enough, but the tiny pink and red peppercorn-like flowers are a delightful surprise that softens any plant behind them.

Purple love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis) is one of those plants that is completely unremarkable until it isn’t. For much of the summer, I have to remind myself not to pull it because it looks like a sort of flattened, weedy grass. But the moment it starts blooming, I resolve to plant even more of this plant that really should have been called “Purple Haze.”

Ethereal plants are great to plant throughout the garden. Farther back in the border they can offer height and form when planted in large groups, but dotted at the front of the border in front of shorter plants they offer dimension that you won’t get in a typical “short plants in front, tall plants in back” arrangement.

These airy plants might not be the first you think of when you picture a late summer garden, but I guarantee they make it better.