Plants for Fall Color
This time of year, if your garden has a lot of perennials, it might be looking a little sad, with the spent black-eyed susans drooping and the drying seed heads rising above everything else like the skeletal remains of summer's abundance. 
 
Now's the time to plan for next year. I forget all about the sorry state of my fall garden when spring comes and everything's bursting with blooms. So, now's the time to analyze where you might be able to sacrifice some summer plants for any of these fall flowering beauties. 
 
There are many fall flowering plants, but these are the ones we've had the most luck with when we create our customer's gardens. Call today and we will help you plant next year's fall garden!

  Aster (Michaelmas Daisy)
The pink-purple-blue daisy-like blooms begin their show in late August and continue through frost. Like mums, these hardy plants appreciate pinching in early summer, which encourages fuller growth.  They do spread on their own, but since they are on the small, delicate side, they don’t take over like many other perennials do.

  Chrysanthemum
Mums come in many colors and sizes and they all look beautiful planted in the fall garden. But not all varieties are truly “hardy” and don’t overwinter. The best time to plant mums is actually in the spring, but most garden centers we know don’t carry them until fall. If you water them well and mulch when the ground freezes, your hardy mums stand the best chance of coming back in the spring.

   Joe Pye Weed
This delicate, feathery plant can be found blooming along the side of the road, but like goldenrod, it can add color and texture to your fall garden. Some of the newer strains are bred to be shorter and bushier, and they make a great backdrop to a border planting.
 
   Sedum
No fall garden is complete without sedum. This hardy old- fashioned standby looks great all year and requires very little care.  It can be split and distributed throughout your garden to fill in lots of bare spots.
 
   Goldenrod
Goldenrod gets a bad rap - it’s insect pollinated, so it’s not responsible for the hay fever symptoms suffered by so many people in the fall - the real culprit is ragweed, which is wind pollinated. Goldenrod is a beautiful addition to cut flower arrangements and tall garden borders, The foliage is dark green with small leaves, and the flowers are often so full of tiny blooms they look like bright yellow cotton puffs. Goldenrod will brighten up any dismal fall garden.
 
Fall Blooming Shrubs
·                        Blue Mist Shrub Caryopteris - Zones 6 - 9 - Fall Flowers
·                        Scotch Heather Calluna vulgaris - Zones 4 - 7 - Fall Flowers
·                        Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana - Zones 5 - 8 - Fall Flowers

Shrubs with Great Fall Foliage
·                        Barberry Berberis - Foliage Red & Gold & Berries - Zones 4 - 8
·                        Clethra Clethra - Foliage Yellow/Orange - Zones 3 - 8
·                        Enkianthus Enkianthus species - Foliage Red - Zones 5 - 8
·                        Fothergilla Fothergilla species - Foliage Gold, Orange& Scarlet - Zone 5 - 8
·                        Oakleaf Hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia - Foliage Burgundy - Zones 5 - 9
·                        Virginia Sweetspire Itea virginica - Foliage Red - Zones 6 - 9
·                        Winged Euonymus Euonymus - Foliage Red - Zones 3 - 8

Shrubs with Colorful Fruits
·                        American Cranberry Bush Viburnum trilobum - Zones 3 - 7
·                        David Viburnum Viburnum davidii - Zones 7 - 9
·                        Firethorn Pyracantha cultivars - Zones 5 - 10
·                        Heavenly bamboo Nandina domestica - Zones 7 - 9
·                        Linden viburnum Viburnum dilatatum - Zones 5 - 8
·                        Red Chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliant' - Zones 4 - 8

Vines for Fall Color
·                        Bittersweet Celastrus - Yellow Foliage/Red Seeds - Zones 4 - 8
·                        Ornamental Grape Vitis - Burgundy Foliage - Zones 5 - 9
·                        Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus - Red Foliage - Zones 4 - 8