I'd like to put some plants in my garden that flower in the autumn. What are my options?
Nothing beats chrysanthemums for shear variety, both in terms of flower style and colour. You can get these hardy perennials in just about any colour you can imagine and they don't have to look like traditional pompoms, either.
No, they can look like daisies or dahlias or have lots of thin, spidery petals.
It's unfortunate that chrysanthemums are stuck with a reputation for being old-fashioned since that causes them to be overlooked by many gardeners. If you haven't checked out the chrysanthemum family recently, it's worth taking a look at what breeders have come out with this year.
(The chrysanthemums that you get from the florist often aren't hardy to our area, so make sure you get yours from a garden centre otherwise you may get a nasty surprise come spring.)
There are several other perennials that put on a good show each autumn. Black-eyed Susans, asters, some of the sages and euphorbias, and, of course, certain members of the sedum family including 'Iceberg', 'Ruby Glow' and that garden staple, 'Autumn Joy', all do their best to brighten up what can be a dreary time of year.
Monkshood is a striking shade blue and it can be quite dramatic when planted in masses in light shade, but keep in mind that it's also poisonous, so it's best not to grow it in yards where children or pets tend to congregate.
Autumn flowers can also be provided by several easy-to-come-by landscape plants including butterfly bushes and roses of Sharon. Several clematis varieties, including ‘Duchess of Albany’ and ‘Gloire de Versailles’ also put on a good show in the fall, as does the species clematis, C. tangutica, with its abundance of yellow, bell-shaped flowers.
Don't forget that many plants also sport colourful fruit this time of year which can be just as showy as any flowers nature has ever come up with. Mountain ashes, elderberries, hollies, cotoneasters, firethorns, and many species of roses and viburnums all put on fruit around now and much of that fruit persists into winter, long after the last flower petals have come and gone.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
Originally published in the Creston Valley Advance on September 30, 2010.
