Fall is in the air. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Where has the year gone? It is almost time to start planting your bulbs, raking the leaves and fall cleaning the beds. Today I want to talk about plants that we don’t typically think of as being for fall.
We regularly think of mums, aster, burning bush, and trees like Sugar and Red maple as plants we like for fall interest. Lesser known options might be 'Autumn Joy' sedum, Japanese Anemone, and 'Little Henry' Itea.
But let me tell you about some others! Solidago (Goldenrod) with it's bright yellow flowers, Fothergilla with it's burnt orange, red, and yellow leaves, and Chelone (Turtlehead) with it's pink turtle-head-shaped flowers.
Don't overlook Caryopteris - it's blue flowers begin late July and continue into September. This small shrub can be treated like a semi-woody perennial and benefits from cutting back low in the spring.
My all-time fall favorite is Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) - the Perennial Plant of the year in 2011. The foliage turns bright gold and at 2.5’ in the back of the border it stands out like a mini-sun. Some turn red-orange, bronze, purplish and yellow, and all are spectacular.
Another favorite of is Helenium, which grows 2-3’ tall. Also known as Sneezeweed, they bloom in a mix of delicious fall colors - yellow, browns, and red. They typically start blooming in late August and continue well into October.
Mums are great, but there are a lot of options for extending color from summer into fall.
I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least mention Viburnums. They come in so many shapes and sizes and with different colored berries in the fall, how can you go wrong? But wait, there’s more... almost all of them get great fall leaf color. This massive genus of shrubs alone would allow you to have flowers from spring to late summer and then berries and fall color until the snow flies.
Well sorry, but gotta go. This article gave me a great idea for pumpkin carving and I want to go get some cider and donuts and draw it out on paper!
