🎨 Keep Fall Color Longer

Backyard at N. Pacific and Gem Way. Shown: Mexican sunflower, anemone, milkweed, wild senna, and Joe Pye.

September is the time when gardens are winding down from their full summer glory, and you may begin to see fewer colors and flowers.  In past years, it would sadden me to no longer see the vivid colors that my garden held in July.  However, over the years I’ve learned to prolong the life (and color) of my garden by planting perennials that bloom until the end of October. Having fall bloomers extends the interest in your garden and adds a color boost to what could be a fading palette. 

There are a few ways to bring fall interest to your garden, through the color and textures of flowers, trees, and shrubs.  It’s also very important to migratory birds and pollinators who are traveling south for the winter and need to stop for food and drink along the way (especially the hummingbirds and monarchs).  Some of my favorite late-season bloomers are New England Asters (with pink and purple blooms) and goldenrods (with yellow blooms).  My friend Crystal, owner and grower of Rust Belt Natives in Hazelwood, also has a few other favorite recommendations for fall bloomers: 

For Fall Color:

Trees & Shrubs - Spicebush (Yellow), Witch Hazel (Yellow), Serviceberry (Red-Orange), Flowering Dogwood (Deep Red), Sugar Maple (Orange) 

Flowers - Asters(purple blooms until first frost), Goldenrods (yellow blooms until frost), Witch Hazel (Yellow flowers, October-November)

Persistent Berries: Red Chokeberry and Winterberry

For Texture and Structure:

Trees -  Red Twig Dogwood (Red Stems)

Plants - Blue False Indigo, Coneflowers, Primroses, Bergamots (All have interesting seed pods & seed heads)

Front garden bed on Penn Ave, Garfield. Shown: Spotted beebalm, lanceleaf coreopsis, butterflyweed, coneflower, mallow, and rosinweed.

Saturday, September 7th, is the last Rust Belt Natives pop-up plant sale in my garden for the season.  We’ll be there from 10 am to 1 pm at the corner of N. Pacific and Gem Way in Garfield. It’s a wonderful time to pick up fall perennials, trees, and shrubs and get them in the ground so that you can begin to enjoy them next year. We also have our Monarch nursery where we raise a few monarch caterpillars.  Once they become butterflies we’ll safely tag them as part of a citizen science project, before they migrate for the winter to Mexico.

Note from the author: This article is also featured in the September 2024 Bulletin, for the Gardening Advice and Earthly Delights column