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One of the nicer aspects to shade gardens is all the trees and shrubs that block the sun providing shade. Temperatures are always go lower in shade, while the comfort level goes up. If the garden has recently been watered evaporation provides for even cooler temperatures. Let the sprinkler run about three hours before you sit in an area of your garden. Let it run where your bench is located for about two hours and then dry off for about another hour. Before air conditioning came into general use I can remember, when I was small, my parents taking buckets of water from the well and washing off the front porch before they sat in the swing. We like to sit in the garden during early evening. Even on the hottest days one does not need to hide inside with the air conditioning.
If you have done just a bit of work earlier in the season, it is not necessary to actively do much gardening in August. That activity can wait until fall planting begins sometime in September.
Weeds can be kept at bay allowing time to simply sit and enjoy the garden using two methods. One is to not give weeds the space to establish themselves. Plenty of perennials well tended earlier leaves little space for a weed. A good mulch applied during spring as the soil warms up helps to prevent weed seeds from germinating. A mulch of about two to three inches will also conserve the need for moisture.
Now that the garden has few open spaces, plenty of plants and a mulch, all that is required is some time to sit and enjoy the garden.
I have several perennials that I can count on year after year to provide my garden color in the month of August. Some plants that provided color earlier in the year now provide foliage to cool, sooth, and provide a backdrop for the current bloomers on stage.
While it is difficult to select only a few of my favorite foliage plants, there are certain ones that come to mind first. Ferns would be number one on my list of foliage plants. Just looking at a fern makes one feel cooler, quieter somehow. There are so many good ferns that are more than simply something green. There are several species and cultivars that are quite colorful in silver, red, and green. Some change color from spring to fall, others bloom.
A favorite companion to the many fern is lungwort, or pulmonaria. There are many species and hybrids now that provide large, downy-soft, leaves in clumps. The leaves can be green, blue-green, with silvery or white spots, splashes, or large blotches. Some have foliage dressed all in silver or pewter.
Unless one is a strictly native plant person, you can not have a shade garden without the king of shade gardens, hosta. I am not a hosta-nut, but I do enjoy hosta in my garden not only for the colorful foliage they provide, but also for the bell shaped blooms.
July and August are leisure months for the gardener. While enjoying the rest, no matter the month or the weather, there are reliable perennials that will perform well in your garden.