As August turns into September many gardeners throw in the towel. They think the season is over, but there are lots of great late-bloomers and ornamental grasses to enhance one’s garden at this time of year.
There are many plants that bloom throughout the fall season, providing extended bloom, foliage and berries.
Flowering plants include a variety of annuals, bulbs and perennials. Many cool-season annuals work well in fall-flowering gardens, and are available in a variety of colours.
Many fall flowers are natives, which shrug off the drought, heat and humidity. After all, our summers are the very climate that shaped their evolution.
Asters thrive in full sun in moist, rich soil. Keep asters vigorous by dividing in spring every two or three years. Joe pye weed is another great late season plant. It’s a real butterfly magnet for almost six weeks in late summer. It also makes a terrific accent plant and mixes well with other late season stars, such as echinacea, rudbeckia, sedum, and ornamental grasses.
Russian sage has a very long bloom time. The plant grows upright and has attractive lacy-looking greyish leaves that smell like sage. Violet-blue flower spikes appear in mid-summer and continue well into fall.
Mums are very popular in the fall. Did you know with proper care, your mum is a perennial that will provide fall colour year after year? Mums don’t like wet feet, so select a well-drained location. Loosen the soil around the edges of the root ball and place the plant in a hole just deep enough so that the top of the root ball is even with the soil line.
It’s also essential late in the season to increase the number of times you feed your plants in a container. By now the soil is pretty well depleted and needs your help to maintain healthy flower production.
Of course, fall is the time to plant bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc. But, that’s an item for another time.
So, re-energise your enthusiasm for your garden by adding some great fall colour.
Need some inspiration? Start here.
