September Flowers For an Outside Garden in Georgia

As September brings cooler weather to Georgia, people move outdoors into the garden to see which flowers are blooming. Some have bloomed all summer and will continue until frost, while others have just started flowering. Annuals, perennials and shrubs all provide seasonal fall color and beauty.

Annuals

Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) and Candytuft (Iberis umbellata) form spreading mats 4 to 8 inches high covered in tiny blooms. Candytuft flowers are white, while Sweet Alyssum may be white, pink or purple.

Pot Marigolds (Calendula officinalis) have yellow and gold flowers, and Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) have blue, purple or pink blooms. Both grow 1 to 2 feet tall.

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) grow 6 to 36 inches tall with spikes of white, yellow, peach, pink or red flowers.

Cosmos grow 1 to 4 feet tall. Cosmos sulphureus has gold or yellow flowers, while C. bipinnatus has blooms in shades of pink and red.

Perennials

Gaillardias and Rudbeckias have daisy-like flowers in shades of gold, yellow and bronze. Both grow 1 to 3 feet tall. Asters bloom in all colors and grow 1 to 5 feet tall.

Many species and varieties of salvias and sedums bloom in September. Salvias grow 1 ½ to 5 feet tall and may have white, pink, red, purple, blue, peach or yellow flowers. Sedums have blooms in shades of pink or red, and grow 1 inch to 2 feet tall.

Shrubs and Shrub-Like Plants

Butterfly Plants (Buddleia spp.) are medium sized shrubs that grow 3 to 6 feet tall. They have spikes of white, purple, pink or yellow flowers. Rose of Sharons (Hibiscus syriacus) have hibiscus type blooms in shades of pink, purple and white. They grow 10 to 12 feet tall if not pruned.

Philippine Violets (Barleria cristata) are shrubby perennials that grow 3 to 4 feet tall, and 2 to 3 feet wide. They have purple or white flowers that resemble violets. Swamp Sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius) grow 5 to 8 feet tall with bright yellow sunflower-type blooms.