15 Best Late Summer Flowering Bulbs | Gardener's Path

The end of summer is a combination of muggy weather, too many mosquitoes, and not enough time off from work to go swimming.

Fortunately for all, this is also a season for enjoying some of the nicest flowers you’re going to see all year, especially when you invest in late summer flowering bulbs.

Many late season bloomers are available to bring a little extra color to the party later in the year, when other garden favorites are lagging.

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

We’ve put together a roundup of our favorite 15 varieties for your perusal and approval. Here’s what’s in store:

Let’s get to it!

Some of the bulbs (and corms, rhizomes, and tubers) recommended here will bloom in the springtime and then put on an encore show in the late summer and into the fall. Others open in the summertime and continue blooming throughout the season until the first frost.

That means you get lasting interest from these flowers, instead of the ephemeral beauty of springtime bulbs that can come and go faster than you might notice.

Regardless of the bloom time of these varieties, almost all of them will need to be planted in the early spring to enjoy their late summer and early fall color.

Some bulbs are not cold hardy. This means they won’t survive the winter if they are growing in the ground outdoors in northern climates. We’ve mentioned which late summer flowering bulbs meet this condition below.

Ranging in color from white to blue to violet, Agapanthus, aka African lily or lily of the Nile, is a showy bloomer that thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-11, depending on the