I know what you mean about things winding down while waiting for other things to start. That being said, my catmints, some yarrow varieties & some Asiatic lily varieties are blooming nicely at the moment. Those might be some good things to add to combat the "lull" next year if you don't already have them. The May Night Salvias still seem to be hanging on too with their first flush of blooms.

Squirrellypete

I've got some hardy geranium in bloom, and my tiarella is still hanging in there. I also have a clematis that's still looking pretty wonderful. I saw someone's Kousa dogwood looking really spectacular today, as well.

A journal is a really great idea. I should do it...one of these days! I'm expecting baby #2 in about a week, so that's pretty much all I'm thinking about right now. And will we ever be ready! HA! :)
Pam

The knockout roses have seriously lulled but daylillies and blanket flowers are in full bloom. Coreopsis are coming in strong. Butterfly bushes just coming in.

Steve

I think part of the lull might be caused by the odd winter and early bloom season. Things I usually have blooming now have already finished. Things I wouldn't expect until June are in serious bud. I keep wondering what's going to happen this fall. Will everything finish in July this year and leave me without blooms until November?

I wonder what this cooler weather will do. Will the Crepe Myrtles be late now? It is so hard to plan for continuous color when so many factors affect bloom time. Think the cooler weather might at least delay the Japanese Beatles? My sundrops are blooming which is usually a sign that they will be here any day now.

I work very hard to make sure I have a fully garden, even in the lull. Colored foliages can certainly help, but so can re-seeding annuals. The garden here is bursting with delphiniums and love-in-a-mist.
Lime green oregano is pulling it's weight at the feet of the knockout rose when combined with the dusky foliage and blue flowers of the nepeta. The ice blue turquoise foliage of Firewitch dianthus mixed with the round, crinkle leaf-golden oregano is an eye catcher.

GGG

No lull in our garden! If Mom lived nearby I'd make her a bouquet of red-orange asiatic lilies, orange california poppy and yellow nasturtium. Or even better, Siberian iris (budded out but not blooming yet), purple angelonia, tradescantia and rose campion-- maybe evening primrose too. Or heck I suppose there's always roses. Maybe ours are late but one's just in the middle of its flush and others are just getting started.

Definitely make a garden journal and keep a photo record with dated photos, too. That's how I figured out to use more Sweet William, Stokesia, rose campion, larkspur, LA hybrid lilies, early daylilies, poppies, bulbine and snapdragons.

Persian Shield and pentas kept over the winter inside are good, too, for an early start on color during the lull.

Nell

Perennials blooming now: Zephranthes (I'm not sure what kind, they have HUGE pink flowers), white and pink yarrow, blue guarantica salvia, blue veronica, pink veronica, foxgloves, hollyhocks, bulbous lilies, the earliest of daylilies: especially a variety called Moontraveller, stokesia, ida maia bulbs, kalimeris, mexican hat, and the yellow counterpart to it, gaillardia, yellow bleeding heart vine...

GGG