Q Summer parties are coming and my perennial border is not colorful. I don't want to hurt my perennials, but what can I do?
A Most perennials take a midsummer vacation, much like the rest of us. After the early spring perennials and June bloomers, it is a long wait for the late summer, early fall colorful flowers to arrive.
You can solve your border problems in an easy, very sneaky way. The great English border designers did it all the time. Keep on reserve some large pots (these days they can be clay or plastic). Early in the season, plant them with annuals that will blend with your perennials.
You can purchase hanging baskets of bright annuals and elevate them in pots to fill gaps in the border. Flowering vines grown on towers provide tall accents.
Dahlias in pots will bloom all summer. They are lush and colorful, and the planted pots can be stored over the winter in a cool garage to be used again another year. There are tall dahlias for the back of the border and shorter ones for nearer the front.
Also consider potted-up, colorful mophead hydrangeas, another plant that can be moved around to where it is needed. Try some dwarf crape myrtles for long summer bloom; the smaller ones can be kept in pots. Conceal the pots with the foliage of your border plants, or place a shorter pot to conceal a taller one.
Any perennials that can be cut back can provide a space for the new color. Don't place pots over the crown of your existing plants; place it nearby instead.
If you have many summer parties, you may want to rearrange your perennial bed so that there are regularly spaced openings for the placement of pots with summer color. It is the easiest and most fool-proof way to get a show while your perennials are on vacation.
E-mail Pat Lea at lea.pat@gmail.com.