The garden is starting to look sad now, plants gone lank, leaves spotted, tattered, crispy on the edges, and the front yard has gone over-grown and shabby, so it's up for a make-over. The yard is its own testing-ground; I'm propagating what works.

What are your workhorses, your "proof" plants - deer-proof, slug-proof, drought-proof, fool-proof, mildew-proof? Hold their own ground, but aren't too aggressive? Low maintenance, look good for most of the year? Natives and hummer plants a bonus, but secondary. Annuals if self-sowing.

Here's my list, for heavy soil, mostly shade plants. H is for some hummer use, HHH is big time.

Ground cover: Astilbe pumila, Lamium Aureum, Japanese pachysandra, bronze Ajuga (H), Asarum europeum.

In betweens: Hellebore, dwarf sweet box (Sarracocca).

Big plants with presence: rice paper plant (Tetrapanax), Miscanthus sinensis Morning Light, ostrich fern, big hostas with thick slug-proof leaves like Sum and Substance (H) (deer eat them if not right next to the house).

Flowering right now: Salvia Black and Blue (HHH) and coccinea (HHH).

Surprising potential: Spigelia marilandica (HHH). It flowered twice and the leaves still look good after dead-heading. Not eaten. It's in dry rooty soil but in softer, damper ground I believe it would look lush indeed.

Lisa
Central NJ/ z6b
Heat zone 5/6

Because of all the tropical and subtropical plants who know no season, my garden is now absolutely exploding with flowers. The party just gets more intense until it hits the winter wall and is felled by frost. Most of the hardy perennial types are well past peak and in some cases are no longer above the ground. This is the season of New England Asters and the blizzard of skipper butterflies. I don't have time to do a list right now, but in late September it is always a long and happy one. Just yesterday a new species of butterfly turned up on the butterfly bush - Giant Swallowtail. This species is nothing unusual for folks to the west and south, but my yard is something like 100 miles from the nearest breeding colonly.

No more tropicals or sub-t's! no digging, winter-storing, replanting! I'm sure yours look gorgeous, though...and I do have some in pots that go in and out...the uncoddled survivors of the unheated room. They didn't come out until the end of May, and the cold weather slowed them up. Bouvardia, abutilon, brugmansia, jasmine. And the cannas. They got planted out so late the Japanese beetles missed them entirely. Which means they didn't flower, but the leaves look great.

I miss asters, but they all died out, except for Fanny's aster, which doesn't even start blooming until mid-October, and a happy perennial camper it is. A little rambling, but anything blooming so late is forgiven.

Lisa
Central NJ/ z6b
Heat zone 5/6

Lisa my Mexican bush sage is blooming like crazy. It comes on strong at this time of year for the migrants. My pineapple sage is a bit slow. I doubt it if will have any blooms before the hummers are gone by the middle of next month.

David 'verity', lady in red, Turk's cap, black and blue, cypress vine, and salvia subrotundra are a few of the workhorses right now too. My flowers do have to compete with all the little red morning glories blooming all over the place.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Dianne, I have that problem with Cypress Vine. It seeds everywhere and is easy to pull but once the garden completely closes to foot traffic the later sprouting one can't get weeded.

If only the bush sages could overwinter here - the heavy soil chokes them. The little red morning glories are scrambling over the fig, the roses, the fennel, the physostegia, but it's a dilapidated mess, truly.

Haven't seen a hummer in a week.

Lisa
Central NJ/ z6b
Heat zone 5/6

I forgot my Hamelia patens. The hummingbirds can't stay away from them either. I hate it that the first frost will kill them back. These are such a favorite. I hope to add more next year because they also make a very pretty shrub.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Lisa I know our conditions are very similar as I live in New Brunswick . I am not sure how much you have experimented with Salvia greggis and mycropyllias . I have some of Ward's "hardy" sages , planted in amended clay soil (VERY AMMEDNED ) . These are all of which are bursting with blooms right now . Cherry Chief did survive for me last winter and there are several other varieties that I am crossing fingers for that will go thru their first winter soon. They seem to be cool weather bloomers and love drought and full sun. I think it was a little too wet for them this year for the most part.

Also the Blue Salvia guaranitica is blooming very well at the moment .I have 3 surviving clumps in south or west facing locations I experimented with this last winter by cutting to the crown , mulching with leaves and covering the area with plastic to keep dry. It worked very well as they slowly emerged this past spring.

You know the drill with everything else , I must plug the super annual Tithonia for their late summer show , Cannas look great still but they are alot of work with the whole fall/ spring digging thing.

Zone 6b New Jersey

visit my hummer photos athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/38829896@N00/

To Dianne's list for here in south Bama I would add my purple hyacinth bean is HUGE! The hummers do seem to like it alot. Hopefully the neighbor likes it as much because I'm betting there is at least as much of the plant hanging over the fence as there is on this side of it. I'm thinking it's growing a foot a day still. Oh! And my measly little sprig of a firespike is juuuust about to have a bloom open. Have a mandeville doing great too, tho the hummers don't seem that interested. My bat faced cuphea is just starting to fade a bit too.
dell

Like Ward, I have to say that everything is still looking pretty good here
Salvia greggiis
Salvia coccineas
Salvia g. Black & Blue
Coral Honeysuckle
Salvia azurea
Cuphea ignea David Verity
Hamelia patens
Cannas
Agastaches
Stachys coccinea
Cardinal Climber
Salvia Black & Rouge
Salvia subrotunda
Tall garden Phlox paniculata
Lobelia cardinalis
Butterfly Bushes
Volunteer petunias
Maltese Cross is still going strong
Salvia SL411 has become a monster at about 5ft.
Salvia darcyii is slowing down a bit nut not much
Tithonia is waning
Red yucca is blooming again
Salvia reptans is the only plant not blooming.


Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Dell how about saving me some of those purple hyacinth seeds. I don't know what happeneded that I lost mine.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Happy to share Dianne. I have a feeling (judging by the abundance of bloom spikes) that there are going to be lots! of seeds.
dell

My Salvia greggiis have looked great all season. There was a bit of a lull in late summer, but now with the cooler temps, they're taking off again. I have 'Pink Preference' from Bustani Farms. It remains to be seen whether it will be winter hardy for me in western PA.

Cupheas always look good, whether it be 'David Verity,' C. micropetala, or C. llavea. However, those are tropicals, so perhaps of no interest to you.

My Ipomoea coccineas still look great, in 2 shades of yellow, and one in orange red. Last year, they looked great from midsummer until frost. They are still attracting hummingbirds in September.

Salvia guaranitica also still looks fine--never a ratty yellow leaf, never looks tired.

My Tithonias also look magnificent, but I planted them very late. Perhaps they'd be falling over and looking tired now if I'd planted them back in May instead of in June or July or whenever it was (I can't remember!).

My cannas still look good, too.

Manettia bicolor still looks wonderful, and has bloomed non stop all season. Hummingbirds love it. Although it is not winter hardy, it is an extremely easy plant to overwinter. Believe me, I can kill anything because I don't have time to deal with winter plants. These are practically indestructible.

My salvia dominated garden has never looked better. All were planted this spring, grew big time in August and are blooming like crazy now.

Greggii's, Furman's red, Wild thing, Pink Preference, Desert blaze, Cherry queen, white witch, Raspberry Delight, Navajo pink (grew huge and is amazing), Big pink, cherry chief, wild watermelon all blooming. These have been blooming since June, but the show is amazing now.

Salvia Black and blue, mesa hybrids, Miniata and chamedroides are in full bloom.

Penstemons, ruby and midnight blue are in bloom.

Salvia Involucrata (has set buds for a while, but is taking sometime to bloom).

Penstemons, midnight blue and ruby are blooming.

Cupheas schumanni and david verity never stopped.

Cannas, robert kemp and indica.

Phygelius cherry ripe, has bloomed non-stop since May.

Dicliptere Suberecta, bloomed non-stop since May.

Coral honeysuckle --- finally winding down.

Suchie