August is one of my favourite months in the garden. The evenings are warm, the light is soft, and it’s the perfect time to sit outside with friends, enjoy a barbeque, or simply admire the borders with a cuppa in hand.

But it’s also the moment when many gardens start to look a little tired after the spring and early‑summer rush. So if you’re wondering what’s looking good right now – or how to give your garden a quick, easy mini‑makeover.

If you’re looking for the best plants for August, there are so many beautiful options that bring instant colour to the garden, so here’s a few beauties for inspiration:

Best plants for August – Penstemon

Penstemons are fabulous, long‑flowering perennials that bloom from early summer right into autumn. They come in a huge range of colours, grow between 15cm and 1m tall, and are wonderfully low‑maintenance.

They prefer a sunny spot but will tolerate part shade. You can grow them from seed or take cuttings for free plants – always a win.

One of my favourites is Penstemon ‘Czar’, which I used in my BBC Gardeners’ World Live show garden. The deep purple flowers with their white throats look stunning planted in generous swathes.

Cosmos

I love Cosmos – such an easy annual flower to grow, and it’s why I include them in all my garden design kits. There are lots of colours to choose from, so they’ll fit in with any colour scheme. They flower from summer until the first frosts, as long as you dead‑head them regularly.

They also make lovely cut flowers. Here they’re styled in an Ikebana‑inspired arrangement with lime green Alchemilla mollis and poppy seed heads.

Crocosmia

The variety ‘Lucifer’ has vibrant red flowers on arching stems, which look wonderful in a jewel‑coloured border. They grow to around 1m tall and can be grown from corms or purchased in pots from the nursery.

They’re clump‑forming, so they’ll need lifting and dividing every few years – fabulous extra plants for free! Other varieties come in shades of yellow and orange. Even after flowering, the green berries are brilliant for flower arranging.

Agapanthus

Agapanthus bring a touch of the Mediterranean to any garden. Their strappy leaves and tall blue (or white) flower heads look fantastic in pots or borders. They love full sun and well‑drained soil — and don’t forget to water them well in hot weather.

Echinacea

Loved by bees! Commonly known as coneflowers, Echinacea grow in most soils (apart from heavy clay) in a sunny or part‑sunny spot, reaching around 1m tall. They come in a range of colours, and I used a bright orange variety in my BBC Gardeners’ World Live show garden – it was the most photographed plant on the garden!

If the bold orange is too much, try Echinacea pallida, which has elegant, soft pink petals.

This photo was taken at Oxford Botanic Garden, where they were planted en masse in a prairie style. They grow to around 1.2m tall and flower from July to September.

Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’

Commonly known as Russian sage, this deciduous sub‑shrub grows to around 1.2m tall. It has silvery‑white stems with deeply divided, aromatic greyish leaves, topped with small violet‑blue flowers. It prefers full sun and well‑drained soil.

Foliage – an alternative to flowers

This is my show garden at RHS Chelsea, which includes a Japanese maple Acer palmatum ‘Butterfly’ underplanted with Heuchera ‘Pinky Panky’. In the foreground is Carex ‘Everest’ with a white peony – which could be replaced with Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’, a beautiful late‑summer flower with elegant white blooms.

Top Tip: Style Your Seating Area

A simple way to elevate your garden is to add cushions or accessories that echo the colours of your flowers. I saw this done beautifully at RHS Chelsea – yellow cushions paired with zesty yellow lupins for a coordinated, joyful look.

It works in any garden, big or small.

These are some of my favourite plants for August, and they’ll keep your garden looking vibrant right through late summer and for more ideas, join the Garden Lovers Club and receive regular updates on all things gardening – tips, ideas, plants, products and garden design. Scroll down and click the ‘Join now’ button. Its free to join and you can unsubscribe at any time.