It's hard to remember the freshness of spring, now in the ratty tatty time of late summer. This shady border in the picture is now pretty tired looking, in part because of the little rodent holes you may be able to see in the mulch to the left of the bicolor hosta. Chipmunks, mostly. Evil isn't always ugly. Sometimes it's very cute.

On the other hand, in spite of the heat, everything in this photo has spread amazingly, even the prized European ginger with its glossy round leaves and the bright yellow heuchera to its right. Now I want more of them.

After staying inside through the hottest summer weather, it’s now time to go out and divide a lot of the nicest perennials. There is plenty of time for them to get established before the ground freezes, and doing it now results in better, bigger plants next spring. You can wait until the busy spring season to do it, but spring divisions will need lots more water to keep them going.

I never divide anything when it is looking its best. Dividing a hosta or an astilbe in its full glory would be a crime against nature. On the other hand, a hosta that is all sunburned and tattered at summer’s end or a crispy fried astilbe is a perfect candidate for division now.

Cutting it to the ground puts it out of its (and my) misery. Splitting it up and replanting the sections in rich compost laden soil in a shadier location will give them a better chance to come through next year’s heat and drought without disfigurement. Put slug bait around each division, water well and then spread mulch.

This is a good time to divide and replant heucheras, and gingers, too. There are so many lovely heucheras or coral-bells available now, but they are so expensive!

I gritted my teeth in spring and invested in 5 'Peach Flambe' heucheras with reddish foliage for the shady end of the Red And Not So Blue Border. I’m so happy with the way they carried the color scheme all season that I’m now digging them up and pulling them apart to add another section of them further down the border. They must be thinking, “What the heck? We just got here!”