Fall is a great time to be out in the garden, and I make a concerted effort to grow plants that will extend my blooming season. I also love easy plants, so here are some of my favorite low-maintenance fall blooming perennials:
Aster: When I was planning the pollinator peninsula (a small collection of insect-friendly plants that don’t require much supplemental water) I knew I needed asters. But I had to wrestle a little with my co-gardener. See, D is not a fan of asters, particularly the ones with washed out colors or wispy leaves. To get him on board, I had to find one with broad deep green leaves, a dense growing habit, and bright colors. I bought Aster ‘Purple Dome’ at a plant sale, and D can agree they are fine plants. Their bright purple flowers are pollinator magnets!
Dahlia: On the other hand, D loves dahlias, but I vetoed them for years. They sounded finicky. Plus, I see them grown in rows a lot, which I find really unappealing, so I wasn’t able to appreciate their individual beauty. But then I bought some tubers on impulse from a local Dahlia Society sale, and they have turned out to be sturdy and charming garden plants. If you’re like me and don’t want to deal with digging them each fall, you can just leave them in the ground and see if they come back. In the PNW, if your soil isn’t too heavy and wet, there’s a good chance they will. And if not, get new ones every few years. Pictured here is ‘NTAC Solar Flare.’ The bumblebees (and my neighbors) love it!
Cyclamen: Here’s one plant D and I can always agree on. Cyclamen hederifolium produces these cool inside-out flowers in fall. These grow really well in our front garden, which is a shady woodland. This patch has started to self sow around a little, in a well-mannered way. We have a few white flowers this year, though most are pink, as pictured here.
Bugbane: (does anyone actually call it that?) aka Actaea simplex ‘Pink Spike’ is an herbaceous perennial with lacy dark purple (almost black) leaves. I’d happily grow this plant even if it never bloomed, its leaves are so beautiful!
Conveniently, the flowers are also lovely. The spiky inflorescences stand above the leaves and produce white or pink and white flowers. The overall effect looks a bit like a dainty bottle brush.
Colchicum: This fall blooming bulb (also called Autumn crocus) surprises me every year by popping up around Labor Day. The flowers are pale pink, and bloom into October (they faded in the last week here with our late drought, or I’d include photos.) Colchicum’s leaves and flowers appear in opposite seasons, so it took me a year to realize they were the same plants! I have two varieties, one that came with the house and one that I got when a friend divided hers, so I don’t know the names of either.
Fall in the northwest is still a really rich time in the garden. And don’t forget, this is the best time of year to plant! Get plants in the ground now to give them a longer head start before the drought of next summer. Visit nurseries, they often have some cool stuff marked down since they’re starting to go dormant. And it’s also time to divide, so you can share plants with your friends and get some back in exchange.
Happy fall gardening!
Soil and Cellar 