But I Don’t Want to Think About Fall!

Every enthusiastic gardener knows the intoxication of heading to their favorite garden center in early May to bask in the bright colors and sweet scents of their favorite blooms. Bleeding heart! Columbine! We snap up the flashiest plants and hit the checkout.

Now fast forward to October… Summer annuals are looking bedraggled and the spring perennials that bewitched us with their May flowers have long since bloomed out. You look out at your yard and think, “Where have all the flowers gone…?” Cue Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Spring is the time to plan for floral and foliage color to keep your garden engaging until the first frosts and beyond. An added bonus, early planting of fall plants means they grow for a whole summer before blooming, so they frequently put on a good show even in their first season. This spring when you visit your favorite garden center, try to look past all the flashy flowers and head for the nooks and crannies where these autumnal beauties might be hiding. Incorporate some of these fall favorites, and you’ll pat yourself on the back until the snow flies!

Anemone (Anemone spp.)

Known as windflowers for the way the flowers dance on tall stalks,

fall anemones spread slowly in full sun to part shade. Their informal

character makes them a good fit in woodland or cottage gardens.

One of the first rusty patched bumblebees seen at Olbrich (the first

insect to make the endangered species list) was on an Anemone

‘September Charm’ plant!

Aster (Symphyotrichum, Eurybia, and Aster spp.)

Asters come in all sizes and colors and provide valuable late season

nectar for pollinators. Native asters such as bigleaf aster and white

wood aster even work well in the shade. We love to tuck an aster

into container plantings where it fills gaps left by declining summer

annuals and then provides a surprise floral show in October.

Snakeroots (Actaea)

Tall white or mauve candelabra-like blooms with a sweet scent, held

above bold foliage, make snakeroots invaluable in the shade garden.

Foliage flair

Don’t discount the value of colorful perennial foliage! Orange and

ruby? Types of Geranium, Euphorbia, Bergenia and low growing

sedums all sport rich fall shades. Or go for the gold with the warm

hues of Amsonia hubrichtii, Iris sibirica, and the evergreen spikes of

Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’.

Graceful grasses

Grasses lend both form and color in the fall and winter garden. The

graceful Olbrich favorite, prairie dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis),

takes on tawny coloration, while types of Panicum span a muted

rainbow from straw yellow to wine red. Molinia ‘Cordoba’ turns a

striking orange in the Herb Garden.

Black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia spp.)

Although traditional black-eyed susans like ‘Goldsturm’ will

always have a place, try some of their offbeat relatives! Rudbeckia

subtomentosa ‘Little Henry’ flowers for months with cheery quilled

flowers on 3-4 foot plants, while Rudbeckia maxima has yellow

flowers with a prominent cone towering above attractive paddle

shaped gray green leaves.

Toad lilies (Tricyrtis)

The orchid-like intricacies of toad lily flowers draw in the careful

observer taking a stroll in the shade.