Perfect Perennial Plants for Fall Blooms
avoid the cold weather slump with these colorful perennial plants for your landscape
Oftentimes our gardens and flowers beds can look a bit sad once we move out of summer and towards the cooler months. However, it’s not impossible to have a yard full of color during the Fall and Winter months, it just takes a little more planning than summer planting does.
There are some great annuals that are perfect for cold weather color such as pansies, violas, ornamental cabbage and kale, Diascia, Nemesia and Osteospermum. While those are usually go-to plants, we’re going to give you a few less common, but still BEAUTIFUL options.
Here’s a list of 7 perennials that will give you Fall blooms:
Hardy Mums
These are pretty typical Fall flowers. You probably see them on just about every front porch this time of year, and for good reason. Mums are about as easy to grow as perennials can get. Perennials for dummies, if you will. While they come in gorgeous color options (yellow, bronze, red, white, orange, burgundy, and pink) it’s important to make sure you choose the right mum for you. Hardy mums, or garden mums, are perennials while florist mums are not. So, be sure you pick up the right ones! Mums are great for zones 5-9. Here in Lexington and Columbia South Carolina we are in zone 8A. Not sure what your zone is? Check out the USDA website to find out!
Asters
This is another traditional perennial for the Fall months but beautiful, none-the-less. They can be found in white, pink and lavender-blue color family. You can get some variety with the size of these plants as they come in both compact and taller forms, so just pick what works best for your landscape! They are hardy in zones 4-8, so be sure that you fall into that range.
They do have one draw back… they can be susceptible to powdery mildew. There are certain varieties that are less susceptible to it so just check the plant’s description when you buy it and should tell you there whether it’s something you need to worry about or not. You can also combat the mildew by planting in a sunny area with good air movement since mildew likes to grow in dampness.
Sedums
These heat and drought tolerant beauties are tough cookies, thriving in even poor soil. They are hardiest in zones 4-9, but some varieties can have specific zone preferences, so double check when you’re picking them out! They start blooming in late summer and will give a color range from white, pink, red, burgundy and lavender.
Heuchera or Coral Bells
These guys are known for their foliage. The coolest thing about this perennial is that they do a color changing act when the weather starts to cool down. Most of them will either deepen, brighten, or transform when the temperature changes. They will grow in both sun and shade and are usually the most hardy when planted in zones 5-9, sometimes even zone 4.
Perennial Hibiscus
These plants start to bloom in the mid summer and continue to become deeper in color into the Fall months, giving you color for many months. They come in pinks, white, lavender, and red. Hibiscuses are also very heat tolerant and prefer consistently moist soil. The thrive best in zones 4-9 and are pretty big plants, growing to be 4 or 5 feet tall and wide. If your landscape needs something a bit smaller, there’s a more compact version such as “Cranberry Crush” that’s only 3 or 4 feet tall.
Panicum Virgatum or Switch Grass
This ornamental grass is adaptable, which we like. It shows off best when it’s in soil that isn’t too rich, which promotes big time growth and will make the plant prone to falling over. You’ll see the best foliage color when it’s planted in full sun, but it still does well in partial shade as well. It loves soil with average moisture (Goldielocks style, not too dry, not too wet, justttt right) but it can tolerate a drought. So think of this plant as a less demanding Goldilocks - it would like everything to be just right, but it doesn’t have to be.
Pennisetum or Desert Plains
This plant does best in zones 5-9 and grows up to 4 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. This plant thrives in the sun, so the sunnier the location the better it’ll perform. In mid-summer the tips of the foliage will start to turn deep red and by fall the whole plant is bursting with shades of gold and orange. During the fall is when it blooms, giving you purply-pink plumes (say that 5 times fast) and eventually aging to tan. This particular type is often considered the best Pennisetum you can get.
Give your landscape a Fall Makeover
Take a step back and look at your landscape and see if it needs a pop of pazazz this Fall. If it does, pick what plants will work best for you and head to your local nursery to grab your Fall perennials.
Did you take a step back and realize, “oh wow, I need some real help”? We can help you with that too! Give one of our landscape architects a call and sit down with them to talk about what we can do to make that landscape look you’ve been dreaming about.
