Prolonging Summer Flower Color into the Fall

Summer offers gardeners an abundance of bright, rich colors. As summer winds down, there are ways of extending that color into the fall. Here are a few late blooming flowers that can help keep color going.

Chrysanthemums -These flowers offer a rich palette of shades such as russet, burgundy, gold and cream. These hardy perinneals bloom from September to October. Plant mums in the spring in sunny garden plots and pinch back new growth to promote bushier formations. One note of caution, the mums that are appear in garden stores starting in September may be the hot house variety that if planted now may not survive the winter.

Joe Pye Weed – This is a tall plant that produces large puffy pink blooms. This perennial is a butterfly magnet.

New England Aster – These flowers are very similar to mums as they are a colorful fall plant. Asters are daisy like flowers with yellow centers.

Goldenrod – A tall plant with yellow or golden that grows up to 24 inches. This plant is often mistaken as a fall allergen. Ragweed, which blooms at the same time, is the actual culprit.

Dahlia – These are bright colorful plants, with round bushy flowers (pompom to daisy shaped). These flowers come in every color but blue and green.

Black-eyed Susan – This plant grows up into a mounded, 2 to 3-foot tall. These perennials have bright orange, daisy-like flowers with a deep brown to black center. Birds like the seed heads in the fall. When planting, look for sunny areas with well drained soil.

Monkshood – Monkshood grows to approximately two to three feet tall. This plant forms blooms of purple hooded flowers on a woody stem. Monkshood should be planted in partial shade to full sun in moist soil.

Autumn Joy Sedum – This plant grows to create a round like bush with many star shaped flowers. Sedum blooms in the fall initially appearing as a deep pink then turning a pinkish brown to copper red. This is a perennial that can take partial sun to light shade.

Blue Sage – Blue Sage will provide white or periwinkle blue blooms through the fall until the frost. This perennial grows up to five feet and favors full sun and well draining soil.

These are just some of the many fall plants that will provide rich color through out the late summer into the early winter. Plants of variety can be left in the garden to provide interest and shelter for the birds through out the winter.