Easy summer bloomers: cosmos (I love the foliage as well as the flowers!), zinnias, nicotiana, salvia (coral nymph is my fav because the hummies love it!), malva,tall celosia, balsam impatiens....

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One that springs to mind for me is some form of agastache. I know there are some that are pink. They are tall and thin and fit well in a crowded border. Maybe Agastache 'Pink Panther'? I have 'Purple Haze' planted at the back of one border and it started blooming within the past week.

OMGosh,those are all just beautiful, did you WS the balsam Impatients?I have never seen them around here.
I must try to grow them all.Thanks for sharing
cAROL

What about lilies? They seem like a good thing to tuck in between plants, and many get about 3-4' tall.

Lois, you're looking for spring bloomers? So am I since most of my plants are summer bloomers (late June on). I'm trying to grow some columbine right now for next spring.

Anyone have any other late spring bloomers? Aren't cosmos, malva, agastache etc. summer bloomers?

And is that tall celosia an annual or perennial? It's very pretty.
Caryl

If you have a crowded garden and want to intersperse more plants throughout it your best bet is to choose prairie natives with ling wiry stems.

Cosmos
Rudbeckia
Mexican Hat
Clumping Grasses

Look at Mike Haddock's great photo gallery on Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses, you'll get a lot of wonderful ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: KSWildflower.Org

Those are gorgeous pictures. I love bumblebees, too. :o) I don't think any annuals are going to work for me,though, because I haven't found any that will bloom before late June for me. My cosmos are still only about 6 inches high. I would LOVE to put some pink agastache there, but it also doesn't start blooming until later in the summer for me. I have never been able to overwinter it here, either. I just got seeds for Mexican Hat this spring and am growing some in my starter garden area. If it blooms early enough, it might work out, thank you. Columbine is a great idea, and I wonder if Painted Daisy would bloom early enough... Thanks, everyone, you gave me some great ideas!

Painted daisy (pyrethrum daisy) would bloom early enough. It's a good May bloomer. And wedging it in amongst other plants helps keep it from flopping. The foliage is also nicely weed suppressing.

Lynda

Wild Blue Lupine might work. Ideally it likes sun. But it might get enough sun in between the other plants. Poenies could also fill in gaps.

Martha

How about tall bearded iris, large allium, lupine? All are spring bloomers in my cottage garden.

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Sometimes foliage works well too...I always plant a couple of lime sweet potato vines to wander in and around the perennials. They add a nice contrast to a bed that's starting to look a little "seedy". This is a September shot from a couple of years ago...

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I love all th photos in this thread ;-)

Wendy, is that a blend of MGs growing on the arbor? I love the different hues of blue.

T

I second the vote for columbine and nicotiana. Bachelor buttons (also called cornflowers around here) would be another good choice. While they are annuals, mine bloom as early as most of the spring perennials - and in fact they self-seeded last fall and overwintered to bloom for me even earlier this spring. (Both nicotiana and bachelor buttons are hardy annuals and can either be sown quite early or will come up early from self-sowing.) BB are fairly tall, and the other plants around them will help keep them from flopping. They come not only in blue, but in pink, white, purple, and burgundy. Select Seeds had packets of just the burgundy available last year, I believe. Might be able to find just pink, too.

Here is the garden in question. I probably should have gotten this picture before I posted the question, but it was great to see everyone else's pictures.

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Thanks again for all your great suggestions.

Lois in PA