Good morning claysoil. We recently bought a farm and it has heavy clay soil to. The first few years, we planted cover crops and amended with lots of compost we got from the local dump. My late flowering plants are 'Miss Lingard'- white, and 'Pepper'- pink, Phlox. Both are mildew resistant and ML is very fragrant. ML flowers in early August for me and Pepper flowers after that. I have not noticed a strong fragrance from Pepper. I also like the hostas. I pick ones with thick leaves as they tend to be more slug resistant. I like large hostas so I bought Sum and Substance and Big Daddy. S&S has yellow foliage and BB has blue foliage. I used to go with just flowers for colour but lately I have bought more foliage plants. So far i have had no slug problems. I also like the Yarrows. 'Moonshine' is a nice soft yellow, has silvery/gray foliage and is not invasive, at least I have found it to stay in a nice tidy clump. There are many more fall flowering plants out there and I'm sure you'll get lots more advice. I hope this helps some. Marg

Hello Claysoil,
I was struck recently by a municipal planting which seems to thrive on neglect.
It has Clarkia unguiculata, which comes in salmon, pink, mauve, red and white. It is an annual, which is effective in mass planting. It started blooming here about two weeks ago.
It also has Calendula, which comes in yellow and orange. It is another annual. In that location it self-seeded very effectively and blooms effectively over a long period.
Ian

May I suggest peegee hydrangea - limelight. I cannot guarantee if it's earwig foolproof but then I've had a few earwigs in my garden this year but not one on this shrub. Incredibly huge blooms starting early summer to late fall. In fact I leave the spent blooms out for winter interest.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Marric  I will definitely look for the phlox. I do love them, but mildew is a problem, so IÂll look for ML and Pepper.
I donÂt have much shade, so IÂm not sure about hostas. I tried them several years ago when I had a tree in the corner of the garden. The hostas were completely eaten, so I pulled them out. The tree has also gone. Maybe I should give them another try? I also tried Yarrow several years ago, but found it to be untidy. I may check out some newer varieties.

Ian  IÂve never heard of Clarkia unguiculata. IÂll have do a search for that one. Thanks for the tip.

Ianna  I had forgotten about peegee hydrangeas. Good suggestion. IÂll try to find Limelight.

Any other suggestions for hardy, insect repellent plants that will withstand my claysoil?

A hardy geranium called New Hampshire purple (it blooms in total shade!) sedums, heucheras, coreopsis, japanese ferns, campanulas, peonies, bleeding heart, astilbe; these are a few from my Z5 Ontario clay garden!

Another hydrangea to consider is Endless Summer which I planted last year; while it is touted as a true blue, it is a very pretty pink in my clay. It started blooming in July and continues. It is, however, one very thirsty plant!

I hope you will like your Turtlehead ("Chelone")as much as I do. Gorgeous pink flowers and very, very dark green foliage...definitely a proven performer in my books!

Bloomers

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do have some peonies, and astilbe as well. The astilbe did not do well this summer - no blooms on some. I did try heuchera in the past, but maybe it's time to try again.

The Turtlehead is just starting to bloom, and so far it looks good. No insect problem yet.

Another post shows pictures of perennial lobelia. Looks fabulous! I'll have to find some of those.

Thanks again for all suggestions. This is a great forum to share with other Canadians.