Many early-season flowers and vegetables give up the ghost by August. Lettuce and spinach have usually gone to seed. The peas have finished producing. Pansies and violas have withered in the heat. Windowbox plants have gotten leggy and weak.
Empty spaces appear where plants have gone dormant or died.
This is the time to take a trip to your local nursery. There are a couple other good reasons to visit a nursery now. With June and July still fresh in your mind, this is a great time to purchase a few plants that performed particularly well for you or that you've admired in other people's gardens. If your gardens could use more late-summer color, you can pick up a few pots of whatever is in bloom and be assured of color next year. Shield new plants or seedlings from the sun with Shade Netting.