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Audition Some Autumn Bloomers!

Extend the beauty of your garden with vivid autumn-blooming perennials. When you think of fall-blooming plants, don’t stop at mums – there are many perennials that can add color to your yards at this time of year.

For fall daisies (besides daisy mums!) grow Boltonia or Nippon Daisy. Boltonia is a tall (3 - 4') grower, suitable as a background plant. White or pink daisies are borne in profusion atop fine grey-green foliage. The Nippon Daisy (Chrysanthemum nipponicum) is covered with large crisp white daisies in October. Both love lots of sun and make excellent cut flowers.

Bold foliaged sedums provide texture as well as color in a sunny place. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is the most well known. It has coppery-pink flower heads. Sedums ‘Brilliant’ and ‘Stardust’, with soft pink and white flowers, respectively, are also attractive. For a totally different color combination plant Sedum ‘Vera Jameson’. It has gray-purple foliage with rose pink blooms and looks stunning when planted with Blue Fescue. As an added bonus, all the sedums are attractive to butterflies.

Asters are another fall bloomer that butterflies love. These perennials like sun and moist, well-drained soil. There are many colorful Aster varieties in shades of pink, purple, blue and white. Some favorites include tall-growing Aster ‘Alma Potschke’ with bright pink flowers, blue-flowered Aster ‘Professor Kippenburg’ and low-growing Aster ‘Purple Dome’ with its deep purple blooms.

Sunny yellow Goldenrod (Solidago) is another bright addition to the fall garden. Wrongly blamed as the cause of fall allergy problems, Goldenrod has rightly taken its place in the fall garden. It looks particularly effective combined with blue flowering Plumbago, purple Asters and ornamental grasses.

Even shade gardeners can enjoy late blooming perennials. Tall growing Japanese Anemones are a stately addition to the perennial garden. Bloom colors range from pure white to various shades of pink. Flowers can be single, semi-double or double. Anemones grow well in light to moderate shade and spread quickly to form large clumps. Turtlehead (Chelone) is another fast spreader for shade. Rose pink flowers cover the tops of the plant from early September to October. For a deeply shaded location try Toad Lily (Tricyrtis), which has clusters of beautiful cream flowers, spotted with maroon along its upright stems. For light shade plant Blue Cardinal Flower (Lobelia siphilitica), whose intense blue spikes can be admired from mid-August until frost.

Be sure to ask us how you can add some of the many fall blooming perennials to your landscape.

Freshen Up for the Fall

Transform summer garden pots, planters and window boxes into magical displays this fall. The addition of mums, winter pansies and ornamental cabbage and kale are always excellent choices but you can really spice things up with the inclusion of a few of these colorful, cold-hardy selections.

Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’
This graceful, fan-shaped acorus variety is ideal for adding height to plantings. It keeps its color and shape into the winter.

Acorus gramineus ‘Variegatus’
This is the white-variegated version of ‘Ogon’. Its white-green striping is the perfect complement to mixed planting in silver, pink, purple or blue.

Ajuga reptans ‘Burgundy Glow’
This ajuga has a trailing habit and pretty, variegated leaves. Its blue flowers are scattered in fall and summer but this plant blooms profusely in springtime.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides ‘Leadwort’
The prolific flowers of this plumbago are an intense gentian-blue and the foliage turns bright red in low temperatures.

Euphorbia amydaloides ‘Purpurea’
This pretty perennial is exceptionally frost resistant. ‘Purpurea’ features upright branches with leaves that form a rosette pattern and turn from reddish to purple in the cold.

Helichrysum thianschanicum ‘Icicles’
Here’s an easy, fast-growing helichrysum variety with striking, velvety-silver leaves and a compact growth habit.

Lamiastru galeobdolon ‘Herman’s Pride’
‘Herman’s Pride’ has serrated, shiny silver leaves with green venation and yellow flowers in the spring. The plant trails as it grows making it perfect as an accent in hanging baskets and window boxes.

Lavendula lantata ‘Silver Leaf Lavender’
This lavender variety has silvery-white leaves that are velvet-like to the touch and hold their color throughout the winter. Dark purple-blue flowers appear by the second year and contrast beautifully with the foliage.

Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldilocks’
Proven to do equally in sun and shade, ‘Goldilocks’ exhibits wonderful versatility. The golden foliage creeps and hangs in lush profusion of round, shiny leaves.
Salvia officinalis ‘Icterina’
This sage has a glowing, golden-yellow variegated leaf. ‘Icterina’ maintains its shape and holds its color long into the winter.

Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’
The eggplant-colored leaves of this sage warm up any planting. Try it as a culinary herb as well. Salvia officinalis ‘Tricolor’ offers a unique combination of purple leaves with white borders that turn pink when temperatures drop.