Asters provide a lively burst of color to the late season landscape featuring a mass of color-themed daisies in almost every hue. The flowers attract butterflies and pollinators to the garden. Wonderful for porch containers, mixed borders, and rock gardens. Cut flowers are long-lasting in fresh bouquets. Tip: Plant in spring to establish the roots and they’ll fulfill their perennial potential.
Autumn Stonecrop is a terrific upright succulent with sturdy stem and lush clusters of dusty pink flowers in late summer and autumn. Since it stores water in its leaves, it's incredibly heat- and drought-resistant, and pollinators love the wide, dense flowers. The dried flower heads turn russet adding winter garden interest. Cut stalks to the ground in spring when new growth first appears. Classic plant for rock gardens. Makes a dependable mixed border plant. Combines beautifully with small ornamental grasses.
Salvia, or Perennial Sage, boasts long-lasting bloom stalks in blues, purples, pinks, and white. Their richly textured foliage make them a favorite of gardeners, and an excellent addition to perennial gardens. The flowers are loved by bees as well. Wonderful for mixed borders and rock gardens. Perfect for all kinds of containers. Cut flowers are long-lasting in fresh bouquets. Plant in drifts or bands for rich and stunning effect.
Or Black Eyed Susans, these sunflower-like beauties will love the brightest spot in your garden. Sow the seeds directly in the soil at any point in the summer to get some splashy autumn blooms. Prized for its adaptability to many growing conditions, Rudbeckia’s late blooming season and vibrant flowers are a perfect complement to the season’s shifting colors. Ideal choice for beds, borders, and cutting gardens.
Chrysanthemums bring a burst of autumn color for containers or in the garden bed. Warm tones of every shade in reds, russets, purples, pinks, oranges, yellows and white. Foliage forms a dense bushy mound covered with flowers which bloom over a long period of time. Excellent for adding new dimension and color to the landscape in late summer and fall when many plants may be getting tired and leggy. Ideal choice for beds, borders, and cutting gardens. Perfect for all kinds of containers to liven porches and patios.
Pansies can withstand the cold of winter, but they can't tolerate heat. Plant 'em at the end of summer and they'll bloom until a hard frost. Then expect to see their smiling faces pop up again in the spring. Pansies have been a garden favorite since initial hybrid varieties were developed from wild Viola species back in the 1800’s in England. A mood-lifting choice for beds and borders. Superb for baskets, containers and window boxes. Wonderful for combination plantings.
Autumn reds and oranges look great, but you’ll love seeing a splash of pink through your window this Sept. Large, delicate blooms atop tall stems, brighten the perennial garden and dance with the wind from summer into autumn. These do best in moist part-sun or part-shade areas. Excellent for borders, rock gardens, or mass plantings. Looks great in woodland settings. Perfect for all kinds of containers. Excellent cut flowers.
You might know Colchicum by its other name, Autumn Crocus, which grow from bulb-like corms. The name "Naked Ladies" comes from the fact that the flowers emerge from the ground long before the leaves appear. Plant it for the joy of seeing fresh flowers at the end of a long, hot summer, with blooms between August and September. Contraindication: The species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental, in spite of its toxicity.
Japanese Toad Lily's starry orchid-like blooms with variegated petals of all colors are a late season delight. Tall stems of glossy, heart-shaped foliage provide a nice backdrop to other shade or part sun perennials all summer, then burst into bloom for a late summer and autumn display. Consistent soil moisture through summer assures the most prolific show of blooms. Appropriate near water and in damp woodland settings. Effective under trees where lawn has difficulty establishing. Makes a breathtaking specimen plant.
Creeping Sedum fills in with a carpet of succulent ground cover featuring variegated green leaves that turn bright red-purple in autumn, some species topped with red-russet flowers. One of the least demanding and most satisfying perennials in the garden. Drought tolerant and deer resistant. Classic use for borders and rock gardens. Looks great spilling over container edges and filling in between border stones.
A bushy autumn perennial with a multitude of upright stems. Has a delicate yet defining presence with its dainty lavender colored blooms and fine silvery-purple leaves. A striking companion to plants of broader leaf or with gold hues. Ideal for defining edges, foundations, and looks stunning in mass plantings. Combines beautifully with small ornamental grasses. Not related to the herbal sage plant. Makes a dependable selection for any garden.
Striking when in full fruit, ornamental peppers are little annual plants with a tropical appeal. Most varieties hold their peppers in an upright position above the foliage. Although ornamental peppers are edible, most people find them too hot to enjoy. They do best in full sun with even watering once the soil gets slightly dry. Excellent for containers or borders, and they make great gifts.
Echinacea, or Cone Flower, is a prairie native and a tough, self-reliant plant that blooms late-summer to autumn. Dusky purplish-rose petals arch back from a central, spiky seed cone. The blooms are held on sturdy stems. Attracts butterflies to the garden. Ideal choice for beds, borders, and cutting gardens. Perfectly suited to informal, naturalized settings. Deer resistant.