If your area has had unusual heat this summer, your plants may just be heat stressed. There's not much you can do about that. If you added a long-acting fertilizer this spring, it may be done and gone by now. Read the label instructions for how long it will last. Of course, if you've had excessive rain, that may cause fertilizer to leach through the soil faster than normal. Late summer plants that can take the heat include blanket flower, calendula, black-eyed susan (especially Ratibida pinnata) and coneflower. Ornamental grasses with graceful seed heads this time of year also provide interest. Or you can tuck a few annuals in here and there to bridge the late summer gap; sunflowers, which now come in all sizes and many colors, nasturtiums, and wave petunias are 3 options.
