Relentless Gardener: The Fall Border

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The fall garden can be as beautiful as a spring garden. Asters, Chrysanthemums, Sedum, and ornamental grasses are timeless additions.

Here are some suggestions you can add to your fall border if you don’t already have them in addition to the fall plants mentioned above:

Anemones, Heuchera, and Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) are fall plants that you may not have considered. Two Japanese Anemones hybrids would extend the perennial garden season. One is Anemone hupehensis with pink fall blossoms. There are many different cultivars of this hybrid. ‘Prince Henry’ has a deep rose with semi-double flowers on a plant that grows 3 feet tall. ‘Splendens’ is a cultivar with a purple to pink flower. They flower earlier than other cultivars in some climates. ‘Pamina’ has tolerance to heat. It has semi-double rose-pink flowers which last for weeks.

The second is Anemone x hybrida with pink or white flowers. These plants can be slow to establish themselves. After about the third season, these plants can become aggressive. ‘Lucky Charm’ blooms early and has single rose-red flowers on three-foot stalks. ‘Elegantissima’ grows three to four feet tall and has double rosy sepals. ‘Fall in Love Sweetly’ by Proven Winners has pink flowers on two-foot-tall stalks.

Heuchera is a Coral Bellflower that has grown in great popularity. Heuchera ‘Forever Red’ has red ruffled foliage all season long. This makes it a dramatic plant for the garden. ‘Bronze Wave’ has white flowers that bloom in fall. It is one of Mount Cuba’s top picks. Mount Cuba does many trials as do many botanic gardens and universities that run University Extension trial gardens.

Blue Mist Flower or Hardy Ageratum, Conoclinium coelestinum is an unusual fall bloomer that is cold hardy in zone 6 but can grow in zones 5-10. It is best to check with your Extension Office whether this is not invasive in your area. This looks like the annual ageratum but grows about three feet tall. It can be paired with Goldenrod and Asters.

Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum is a good cut flower and dried flower. It blooms into the fall. The flowers on Agastache foeniculum are purple. But ‘Alba’ is a hybrid with white creamy flowers. ‘Golden Jubilee’ cultivar with yellow leaves and lavender-blue flowers.

Combinations of these plants can make your fall garden just as stunning as your spring garden. But don’t give up on the mums, sedums, asters, and ornamental grasses.

Linda Langelo is a Colorado State University Extension horticulture specialist, member of Garden Communicators International, and regular contributor to MarthaStewart.com gardening articles. She also produces The Relentless Gardener Podcast. She is a guest blogger for AARP Colorado and AARP Maryland.