Someone once told me that September is the most beautiful month, if you consider all the parts of the world. While that may be true travelwise, September is hardly thought of as the best month for the garden — especially in the Southeast.

Last year, I called several people in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia and asked if I could come visit their gardens in September. Almost everyone said, "No, the garden looks terrible right now. Wait until spring."

Martha Tate/Special (ENLARGE)

Left: An orange ginger is an intriguing foil for the maroon, smoke tree-like Caribbean copper plant, a euphorbia. Above: An elegant combination of tropicals, grasses, annuals and perennials. Many of the grasses are in urns, which gives the plants a tamer look.

(ENLARGE)

Martha's Pick: 'White Butterfly' ginger lily.

MARTHA'S PICK 'White Butterfly' ginger lily Botanical name: Hedychium coronarium 'White Butterfly' About the plant: This tropical-looking plant is actually hardy in Atlanta. Gardener Abie Little gave me a start of this 5-foot-high plant with large leaf stalks, and now I enjoy the delicious fragrance every September (and on until frost). The flowers look like pure white orchids. Use in the garden: Plant next to a porch, carport or deck. You'll love the fragrance, especially in the early mornings and evenings. Pick a bloom to perfume a room for at least a day. Planting and care: Easy to grow, they love moisture, so don't let them dry out. Plant in sun or partial sun. Staking may be necessary. Source: Ty Ty Nursery, 4723 U.S. 82 West, Ty Ty. 1-800-972-2101, www.tytyga.com.

Obviously, there are peak periods during the growing season when you can count on things looking great in the garden – mid-March, the first and middle of April, the beginning of May, the first two weeks of June, and in early to mid-July. September in Atlanta is usually not one of those high times. Around here, it's just before mid-October that things perk up again.

But if you plan ahead and do some grooming and deadheading, your garden can still look good almost all of September. It's a matter of knowing the approximate time perennials and ornamental grasses bloom, as well as how annuals and tropical plants can extend the season.

Looking back at my notes from the gardens I did end up visiting last September, I found there were some great-looking combinations of perennials and annuals and some really handsome plantings that still looked as fresh as spring. Here are some observations from last September or Septembers past:

• In an Atlanta garden, Aster tataricus and white brugmansia growing next to each other — a perennial and a tropical plant. It was a lovely combination.

• In a North Carolina garden, grasses and 'Skyrocket' goldenrod at the edge of a rather large field, with oversize grasses, asters and salvias planted in large swaths.

• In Bob Gilbert's Kennesaw garden, orange ginger and Caribbean copper plant, the lovely maroon Euphorbia cotinifolia, with the rich look of a purple smoketree. This euphorbia isn't hardy, but if you think to plant it ahead, you can enjoy it until frost. It is exquisite.

• A single planting of white lantana in a courtyard, again at Gilbert's. Or yellow. Instead of having a big mishmash of colors and plant sizes, think about keeping it simple. Lantana generally isn't hardy, but the tender types spread quickly and are at their best in late summer and all the way to frost.

• Grasses and tropicals in a North Carolina garden. The owner described her front yard as "controlled chaos." She had grasses in containers flanking the front walk, and lining the path were curcumas (a ginger). She had a beautiful banana tree next to a big shrub rose — quite an odd, but nice, effect.

• A garden outside Raleigh that was mostly evergreen (all sizes, shapes and colors of conifers), which sounds boring, but it was anything but. They had some splashes of color, namely a gorgeous big maroon begonia in a container and some lovely pink americrinums blooming in several places.

• In that same Raleigh garden, an orange-flowering osmanthus perfumed the garden — and it was lovely seeing the little blooms the color of creamsicles.

• A shade garden in Raleigh featured all kinds of variegated plants, many hardy and some tropical. Yellow and green 'Goldheart' ivy covered an entrance arbor, and from then on, there was everything variegated you could think of, including a gardenia. The owners keep everything beautifully groomed; they have a lot of tropical plants (all variegated), including a beautiful green and white banana plant.

All gorgeous and lush — even in September.