Fall Garden Color Favorites

October 18, 2016 | By webadmin

Everyone loves the uplifting sight of new flowers in the garden. When you pass a home with a well-maintained landscape and pops of color, it shows that the homeowners care about their place in the neighborhood and their neighbors. Flowers that can withstand our scorching summer temperatures begin to fade as the days shorten and the nights begin to cool down. Now that it's time to plant some fresh color, there are lots of beautiful options to brighten up the crisp days of fall.

5 fall-flowering favorites:

In our area, many of our cool season bloomers perform best when planted early in the fall. Snapdragons, for instance, bloom beautifully in spring when their root systems are allowed to establish starting in the fall. They will take a break from blooming during the winter, but have no trouble withstanding the cool temperatures.

Also known as pinks, classic Dianthus come in various shades of pink as well as red and white. The flowers have a lovely serrated edge as if they were snipped with pinking shears. While they won't bloom continuously, these sweet little annuals will sometimes live and bloom in both spring and fall for well over a year.

Petunias are an old fashioned favorite that have one of the largest and prettiest flowers full of velvety ruffles in lots of different colors. If you're new to the area, you might think of petunias in summer, but here they love cool nighttime temperatures and can easily tolerate light freezes, but will typically finish their cycle when the most extreme cold temperatures arrive.

If you really want a treat, Iceland poppies create one of the most unique displays of the year. In color mixtures of orange, yellow, melon-pink and white, the dazzling tissue like flowers grow on delicate fuzzy stems. This is another annual that gives a much better performance in spring when planted in fall.

Adding a foliage plants lends wonderful texture and sophistication to your plantings as well as color that's not dependent on blooms. The  contrasting neutrals of Dusty Miller or cool season herbs such as bronze fennel and either curly or flat leaf parsley, provide a backdrop for other flowers and the feathery leaves look so beautiful when they catch the morning or evening light.

Dusty Miller

Curly parsley

Bronze Fennel

Planting & Care

Plant each of these selections in full sun. The herbs and Dusty Miller will take a bit of shade. To keep all your plants healthy, amend with organic materials such as compost or earthworm castings. Water as needed through the cooler months; now is a great time to add your container gardens onto your drip system for ease of maintenance and to keep them fresh even when out of town. Feed with a quality fertilizer made for blooming plants monthly through the season.

Not only will fresh fall color in pots and in the landscape lift your spirits each day, but every person who passes your home will also appreciate the lovely parade of color that illustrates the changing season.