Best Plants for the Fall Garden
Looking for fall planting ideas? Wait until you see my fall garden favorites! And it’s not garden mums…
Fall garden plantings can be so much more than Chrysanthemums (mums).
Don’t get me wrong, I love Mums and tuck them around my home and garden, but there are so many other options that will add interest, color, and texture through the season.
Wait until you see what else you can plant for a gorgeous fall garden.
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Best Annuals for the Fall Garden
There are some incredible options for annuals that do well in both containers and the garden.
Next time you visit your local nursery, take a look at
- Ornamental Grasses
- Ornamental Peppers
- Millet
- Ornamental Kale
- Winter Pansies
- Celosia
When the temps officially cool down for fall, I love to plant Winter Pansies in the garden.
These Pansies add fall color, will overwinter, and bounce back in spring.
It’s a great way to save a few bucks too because you won’t need to purchase them again in spring if you plan ahead now.
Pansies do not last through the dog days of summer so you’ll get more out of them by planting them in fall!
And if you want a pretty fall planter idea using some of these annuals, you’ve got to see my container recipe for fall.
CLICK HERE to get the recipe.
Best Perennials for the Fall Garden
While annuals provide seasonal color, I plant perennials as much as possible because they return yearly and add color without having to plant every year.
Perennials I love to add to for fall color include:
- Asters
- Ornamental Grass
- Japanese Anemones
- Sedums
- Joe Pye Weed
Perennials are great to plant because they return year after year.
And if you plan it well, you can have a succession of blooms through the entire growing season.
Not sure whether to plant perennials or annuals? CLICK HERE to help you decide!
Sedum Autumn Joy
Hands down, my favorite fall-blooming perennial is Sedum Autumn Joy.
It is a four-season, low-maintenance plant that is super easy to propagate.
Sedum Autumn Joy adds greenery to the garden in spring, color, and texture with its chartreuse flower buds in summer, they produce an array of pink blooms throughout fall and the dried seed heads add winter interest.
Not to mention, I use the dried seed heads in floral arrangements and winter container plantings.
Want to increase your stock?
Dig and divide these plants or take a cutting and plant it directly in the ground – it’s that easy to propagate!
You can learn all about it in the video below!
Late Flowering Trees and Shrubs
Since fall is a great time to plant, consider adding late-flowering trees and shrubs to add fall color without the extra work of planting annuals.
Shrubs and trees help anchor smaller plants in the garden and provide interest through the changing seasons.
When I consider flowering trees and shrubs, I also look at what their foliage does in fall.
Some late-flowering trees and shrubs that I have and love are:
- Caryopteris
- Callicarpa
- Oak Leaf Hydrangea
- Hydrangea Paniculata
- Limelight Hydrangea
There are many others so do your research for what grows best in your climate.
Now Let’s Tour My Gardens (2019 Garden Tour)
During the 2019 growing season, I photographed the gardens each week to document how they grew and changed.
It’s so fun to look back and see how different they are from then until now.
I picked up a few plants at the nursery.
Not that I have much room in some of my borders, but hey, I’ll make them fit!
They look so amazing and I can’t wait to show you!
Front Yard Garden Tour
When I went to the nursery this week, I picked up some Asters and the annual Ornamental Grass.
The Asters really grabbed my attention because they are a gorgeous shade of purple.
I had to have them!
I also picked up some Ornamental Grass because I love how the fronds add much movement to the front border.
Since this border spans the width of my house, I bought five plants of each for the front border.
When designing a garden, plant in odd numbers.
Odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
The biggest change to this garden is my freshly painted front door!
Doesn’t it look great?
I spent Labor Day Weekend changing it from red to black.
I chose a soft black, which almost looks more like a dark charcoal gray, but I love how it looks with my garden!
The Dahlias I planted in spring are doing incredible!
They are a must-have for the garden but are considered tender in NJ.
This means dahlias must be dug up and stored for the winter because the tubers will not survive freezing temperatures.
The Rose Mallow I planted in spring produced these gorgeous blooms this week.
They are about 8″ in diameter.
They look stunning!
Mailbox Garden Tour
To fill in the holes where I cut back my Daylillies, I tucked in two Asters to flank the Sedum and they look awesome!!!
I love that it adds that vibrant purple color where my Jackmanii Clematis is fading.
I absolutely love how the Sedum envelope the mailbox!
This photo was taken before tucking in the Asters.
Because I love this purple color in mailbox garden, these Asters are the perfect addition.
They will help maintain that vibrant purple while the Clematis blooms fade out.
Fall Garden Flowers in the Well Garden Tour
The Well Garden is starting to wind down.
My Phlox and Peonies are starting to get powdery mildew so I’ll need to cut them back soon to neaten up the bed.
Right now, the stunners in this garden are Caryopteris and Callicarpa.
Caryopteris is a gorgeous late summer flowering shrub with these bluish-purple blooms.
The bees love this shrub and it looks amazing paired with my Zebra Grass and Smoketree.
In addition to Caryopteris, Callicarpa, aka Beautyberry, has grown the purple berries I told you about a few blogs ago.
This is one of the main reasons I love this shrub – check out the photos below to see why.
Backyard Fall Garden Tour
Nothing says fall more than my backyard borders right now.
They look so festive and amazing! I noticed some of the Hostas and Raspberry leaves are starting to brown.
Combined with the Sedum, Ornamental Grass, and Joe Pye Weed, this garden is totally giving me the fall feels!
As I walked these beds, I noticed my double flowering Impatiens are starting to yellow and lose their leaves.
This is a sign they are almost done for the season.
Since these plants are finishing out their summer show, my container gardens are starting to say good-night.
I was given these Japanese Anemones from a local gardener two years ago.
I planted them immediately but they did not return at all last year.
Not even a leaf! This year, it grew these beautiful blooms!
It was such a nice surprise.
The first full bloom of the Endless Summer Hydrangea.
They did not have a good season this year. CLICK HERE to find out why.
I’m going to wrap these in a few weeks to protect them better from the harsh NJ winter.
Hopefully, it will produce more blooms next year!
What Do You Think?
I am so excited to get back to the nursery and add fall touches to my home and garden. What was your favorite garden this week?
I would love to know – let me know what you think in the comments here.
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Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this week’s garden tour and appreciate you joining me!
If you missed a few tours or want to see how the garden has progressed during the growing season, you can see them here:
- 1st Week – Bulbs and Early Spring Perennials
- 2nd Week – Cool Season Vegetables and Spring Flowers
- 3rd Week – Growth, Change and Everblooming Design
- 4th Week – Growth and Transition in the Spring Garden
- 5th Week – Container Gardens and Outdoor Living Spaces
- 6th Week – Adding Color with Annuals
- 7th Week – The Importance of a Tidy Border
- 8th Week – How to Create a Hummingbird Garden
- 9th Week – Spring to Summer Transition
- 10th Week – Summer Perennials, Pest and Disease Control
- 11th Week – Summer Gardening and Patriotic Decor
- 12th Week – Caring for Gardens While On Vacation
- 13th Week – How to Create a Butterfly Garden
- 14th Week – Midsummer Flowers
- 15th Week – Summer to Fall Transition in the Garden
- 16th Week – Tidying Up the Late Summer Flower Garden
- 17th Week – Preparing the Flower Garden for Fall Plantings
Thank you for following along.
Happy planting – enjoy your day! xo
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