I want to build a flower bed to give me some color in the fall of the year what should I plant? this is going to be a good size bed I know i want some mums? will they come back year after year, but what else should I plant?
autumn flower bed
springsong, The mums are nice and may come back better for your southern garden-they are a struggle sometimes with our longer, wet winters.Around here the fall bloomers include sedum Autumn Joy, Frosty Morn and one we call Everlasting-don't know if that is the real name or not since it was a pass-along plant!This gives a mix of dark pink, light pink and white bloom. Ornamental grasses look their best now too and give great structure to the bed. If you can fit shrubs in the butterfly bushes really look good and attract hordes of migrating butterflies.Fall blooming asters are good too and I have a pink Chelone called HotLips that is pretty. Can you tell my taste runs to purple, pink hues?? An annual that I just love this time of year is sweet allysum. It is OK through the summer but gets really lush and smells WONDERFUL in fall- like honey! The bees love it too.Reseeds pretty well for me too, although after a few years it tends to revert and get kinda rangy and "weird" so I replant every few years.Almost forgot the shrub roses that form rosehips- they are so cool and feed the birds in winter!And then there are the reblooming irises.......... Is that enough to get you started? Good luck, MW
mwhit, thank you so much this is a great start sounds like you have a beautiful fall garden
Springsong...I don't know anything about the "everlasting" sedum that Mwit spoke of but I agree that the "Frosty Morn" and "Autum Joys" are pretty. I also agree that you might want a butterfly bush. I have a YELLOW one that I have planted purple asters on each side of. I really like the contrast. And yes I love mums. Of coarse, yellow and dark red. Oh yeah, throw in some orange butterflies and you'll
have a wonderful garden! My rudebeckia is also still blooming for now but will be over soon. At any rate I'm sure it will be pretty in any colors. Have fun planting.
My mums are coming into full bloom--tall & short. The Autumns Joy sedum attracts butterflies as well as the asters. My cannas & Zinnias bit the dust over the weekend in the first hard frost. I still have blue batchelor buttons, white Immortality iris, Guara, Black eyed Susans and a selection of re-blooming daylilies. I don't know how much of this would work for you. this is last week before the frost...
great picture, wanda by the way did you get your seeds? I have been in biloxi all weekend and just got back thanks
This message was edited Oct 9, 2003 8:14 PM
Purple coneflower. It comes in white too. And Stella d'Oro daylilies, I was surprised to find my Stella blooming again this week. If you select some late blooming day lilies you will get some color there too. Ask on the daylily forum for late blooming varieties, you might find some that somebody needs to divide.
I have some re-blooming & late daylilies that are going now: Paper Butterfly, Aztec Gold, Timeless,Stellas, Rozavel. The last scapes are finishing. The Blue Speedwell is still blooming as well as all my phlox.
My speedwell is still blooming, so is my blue cardinal flower. My hollyhocks are just beginning their late flowering.
If you order mums from a reputable dealer you can get truly hardy ones, rather than buying a pot in bloom in the fall, which may or may not be hardy. I haven't bought mums from them, but I know Bluestone Perennials have a good selection of all the different mum types.
I also have fall colchicum and sternbergias that have been blooming for a couple of weeks, and they should stay good for a couple more, depending on the weather. I hope to get some new true fall crocus, also.
Since you are going to have lots of room, you might consider a hydrangea. Many of them have flowers that remain beautiful until mid-winter or later. And how about an autumn-blooming witch-hazel? Mine started blooming a couple of weeks ago, and it is at its peak right now.
Scarlet sage and Mexican bush sage are just beginning to bloom. They are tender annuals for us this far north, but not too expensive to buy one or two every year. Ditto pineapple sage.
You can also get crinums and surprise lilies and flowering ginger that will be hardy for you. They bloom in the fall.
Hope you are getting lots of inspiration! I would love to see your garden next fall.
If you have partial shade the Japanese anemones and toadlilies are beautiful. Jupiter's beard is still blooming for me, and in sun my boltonia is going strong. The balloon flowers have finished blooming but the foliage is a very pretty rusty orange. And then the ornamental grasses are really stunning this time of year. You can also plant ornamental cabbage and kale as well as winter pansies and violas right now. My hardy cyclamens are blooming too, and the Arum Italicum pictum has very pretty marbled leaves which last all winter. Verbena bonariensis is still putting on a show and the butterflies love it.
I have 10+ colors of mums in bloom---short & tall ones. My hardiest ones are the common tight buds plus these daisy -style ones.
A few more ideas for you..... Snapdragons bloom until frost, they come in short 6-8 inch and taller 12-15 inch varieties and a nice range of colors. My Stella daylily has another bloom! The short phlox are still blooming along with some old fashioned pinks and blanketflower that has been blooming for weeks and weeks.
My Phlox & mums are still blooming despite multiple frosts. The snapdragons are going strong plus Batchelor Buttons & the irrespressible Zebrina Malva. "Immortality" & "Clarence" irises have re-bloomed. Blue Chinese Forget Me Nots are going strong again as well as Coreposis. Indian Summer heat does wonders here, but snow is broadcast for the weekend.
My fall mums... The yellow one was from a trade at the TN RU last year, from Yardbird. The pink/purple has grown from a tiny bunch a neighbor gave me about 6 years ago.
Colchicums, autumn flowering Crocus, Gentians, autumn flowering Galanthus and Cyclamen
Check out this link of Fall Winners http://www.provenwinners.com/catalog/index.php?catID=2 , plus Asters, Astrantia major, Pulmonaria, upright & trailing Sedums.
Fall is a wonderful season to add color to your garden through trees such as Japanese Maples, shrubs such as various Viburnums, ornamental grasses are glorious with their Fall foliage, Perennials listed above, Annuals like the ornamental cabbages/kales & Groundcovers.
Fall is one of my most favorite seasons to have glorious color in your garden!