Add Color to the Landscape with Fall Flowers With summer now officially gone and the cooler days of fall ahead, most summer flowers are winding down leaving less color in the landscape. But just because those summer flowers are done for the year doesn’t mean you cannot continue to have impacts of color around the home. If you look around, you will notice that the autumn season has its own unique palette of colors. There is color expressed in the changing of the leaves, fall blooming wildflowers, and, more importantly, many fall blooming bedding plants that can be added to the home landscape. Below is a list of some of the more popular annuals and perennials that are a must have for any fall garden. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums
have been the most popular
fall flower
for a long time. Many old flower beds included mums and, being a
perennial, each fall they would bloom perfectly right on time lasting
until
frost. Many of those old varieties still exist and will bloom a
little
each year. But thanks to extensive breeding, new and better
varieties of
mums are now available. Today's mums are more compact in size,
have
heavier blooms, and can be enjoyed much longer.
There are many varieties of mums. The most common type seen and sold are the cushion mums, which are grown in tight mounds in containers. You rarely see them sold under a name but rather by color – yellow, red, white, bronze, lavender, and pink. The other type of mums you could grow have daisy like flowers and feature a more taller, naturalistic, bushier form. “Ryan’s Pink” is one variety in particular that is a must have. Showy Sedum Showy
sedum is a perennial succulent that has puffy flowers and has a
distinctive
rusty texture that contrasts with the plants around it.
It is a tough low maintenance plant that is
very durable, especially on dry sites. It
blooms in late summer to fall and provides autumn -ike
color of pink
to rusty reds. Sedum fits in well with
other fall blooming plants such as mums, ornamental grasses,
coneflowers, and
asters. Being a drought tolerant plant,
sedum can be used in many different places including borders, beds,
containers,
and rock gardens. The most common variety of showy sedum available is
“Autumn
Joy.”
Salvia The
most underused and overlooked group of fall flowering plants is salvias. The genus Salvia
includes both salvias, as well as, sages. Within
this family of plants are a wide range of
varieties, both annuals
and perennials. Most salvias and sages
are either blue or red, but occasionally you will find other unique
shades. Perennial
varieties that bloom in the fall include mealy-cup sage, Mexican bush
sage,
scarlet sage, pineapple sage, Russian sage, and autumn sage.
Aster If
you like fall flowers that will last a long time, then think about
adding
asters to your garden. Asters are tough perennials that seldom need any
care. In fact, they may even go
unnoticed amongst all the summer flowers until they explode with color
in the
fall. There are numerous varieties of asters, ranging from six inches
to seven
feet tall. These daisy-like flowers can
be blue, pink, lavender, white, purple, and red. ‘
Marigold
For
the most bang for your buck, try marigolds. These
annuals can be planted in late summer and will
continue to bloom
throughout the fall. Their yellow or orange pom-pom like flowers are
very
eye-catching and combine well with other arrangements of colors and
plants in
the garden. Most marigolds sold do not
include a variety name but rather are just listed as African, American
or
French marigolds. A separate species of marigold is Mexican mint
marigold,
which bears yellow flowers in the fall. Deadheading marigolds throughout the fall will keep them blooming even longer. If you want marigolds next year, be sure to collect the seeds as you deadhead. Sow the seeds in early spring for another round of color and enjoyment. Other fall-blooming flowers worth mentioning are goldenrod, swamp sunflower, and joe-pye weed. These are all native wildflowers but there is no reason to leave them out of the list of must haves in the fall garden. In fact, you can find them sometimes sold at some nurseries and garden centers. There are even different varieties and sizes available. Use goldenrod, swamp sunflower, and joe-pye weed as background plants for additional color and to compliment all the other smaller flowers. For more information, contact the Tallapoosa County Extension Office at 256-825-1050. |