My delphiniums and lupins are long gone, my roses are fading and the giant-flowered hybrid clematis are past their best, but my perennial borders remain a riot of colour thanks to a few, well-chosen gems.

Late summer can be a time when colour is at its hottest, when blazing crocosmia, burnt orange helenium, bright yellow rudbeckias, acid green euphorbias and an array of other plants come into their own.

Exotic orange ginger lilies (Hedychium), which release a great scent, clash with vibrant red Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ or its relative D. ‘Tally Ho’, with its hot, deep orange flowers.

If you prefer pastel shades, plant sun-loving cone flowers (Echinacea) in shades of pink and white.

If you thought hard before summer started and planted some nasturtium seeds in your hanging baskets and patio pots, they should be now showing their true colours.

Clumps of bulbs are particularly useful in extending the season. Spikes of crocosmia will add architectural interest to the late summer border, their upright, spiky leaves with elegant sprays of orange-red flowers brightening the scene.

My favourite is C. ‘Lucifer’, a fairly tall variety growing to 120cm (4ft), which produces brilliant red flowers and looks wonderful grown alongside the purple-leaved smoke bush, Cotinus ‘Royal Purple’, or against a backdrop of acid-green evergreens.

Many warm yellow herbaceous perennials look fantastic in mass plantings, such as the long-lasting Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ and heliopsis.

Bronze or burgundy leaves look fantastic mixed with the hot-coloured border. Place shrubs with red-purple foliage, such as Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea, behind red or orange plants.

The burgundy leaves of heucheras also make a wonderful foil at the front of the border, as their more vibrant companions show off from behind.

Use drifts of perennial border phloxes to provide intense pools of summer colour. Herbaceous potentillas or small asters can be planted in front to hide the bare phlox stems. Phloxes are ideal follow-on plants for poppies. Don’t let them dry out in summer.

Hotter subjects include red hot pokers (kniphofia), which produce rocket-shaped flowers.

Red varieties of astilbe such as ‘Feuer’ will give you coral-red flowers to September, above delicate feathery plumes. They thrive in moist ground in partial shade.

If you want to add late summer-flowering plants to an existing border, buy as many of the same colour and variety as you can afford and repeat-plant them through the border to develop a sense of rhythm.

When mixing colours try to avoid using too many pastels with hot colours as the brighter hues will swamp the more subtle ones. If you plan carefully, your summer colour can last right through to autumn.