Hi there! I just thought I'd share some of my favorite, tried-and-true perennials that really shine in the garden in Fall. My yard has been really aglow with color lately! Sometimes we forget that many flowers keep on blooming waaay into Fall.
Here are my enormous Japanese anemone. They are NOISY with the buzzing of bees, and pretty much take over their patch of garden bed -- and a lot of my pathway. But they are FANTASTIC. I'll try to remember to post a photo of them once they go to seed and get their cloud-puff seed heads! A random pink gladiolus has snuck into the background of this photo (and the garden bed?!). Dried up bee balm is in the foreground -- I'm going to collect some seeds soon.
Oh, this is a new path (and beds) I made. I moved the stones (and will soon move the gravel) from my blueberry area, where the path was only serving to host crab grass. :( I'm waiting for the cardboard to break down, and then I'll move some other plants into the beds! I love my garden cardboard projects. ^_^
Asters! I didn't realize there were so many native asters. My house came with a bunch of different kinds! These bumble bees are ASLEEP in the morning, still too cold to move! C. told me that they sleep in flowers overnight! Aren't they the cutest insects you've ever seen? They look like little dogs, or teddy bears, or Pokemon, or something.
A gradient of cherry tomatoes! I think this was a volunteer plant from last year's scattered dropped tomatoes. I had too many of those this year (they don't come up true to type), so next year I'll be better at weeding them out.
Here's a view of some of those asters, plus zinnia, brown eyed Susan, old crocosmia in the background, mint everywhere, and strawberries in the raised bed. I need to move that raised bed . . .
More zinnias! I decided after their success last summer, that State Fair zinnias were the winner, and best type*! Last year I started them from seed, but this year I was too late so I got them as seedlings.
They are TALL and hardy/sturdy, and come up as all different colors! The pink in the last photo is this same type (as the red above).
Zinnia: State Fair! Orange this time
This is the same orange zinnia; I love the variety of shapes in the same plant
I took this pic right after a rain. Delicious thornless raspberries! They're easy to grow; do yourself a favor and plant some! Mine fruit in early summer and then again in Fall. I don't prune them properly (or at all), but what I get is good enough for me!
My new favorite, salvia uliginosa. I've put it in several spots in my yard. GORGEOUS!
Here's another new favorite: Gomphrena "Fireworks"! It's an annual, but look how pretty! And it really sprouted right up and bloomed a lot!
Closeup of gomphrena. I also got a red one, but it's mostly done blooming now.
Beautyberry bush. I didn't even realize it was a native plant! I fell in love with this plant back in WA, when we'd pass one off an alleyway during our long neighborhood walks. It keeps its purple berries all winter! Long after the leaves fall off, you have this lovely BRIGHT PURPLE "winter interest".
I'm really proud of this salvia "Black and Blue" that I OVERWINTERED!! That's right, I piled a ton of mulch on it last fall, and not only did it stay alive, LOOK AT IT! All of my salvias made it, and they are huge!!! (And that's more red zinnia next to it.)
I know it's just boring old sedum, but every fall I do enjoy seeing how nice it looks. Yep, it's "Autumn Joy", it's super simple to grow, my house came with a ton of it, and in my mind it's very "old lady", but guess what? . . . I'm basically an old lady myself, so maybe that's why it's growing on me! HA!!
That's all for now! Maybe I'll pop in again soon with later-fall plants or some winter interest. ;) Happy gardening!
*I've always loved the little, pompom type zinnias, too, like Lilliput. But State Fair is BIG, BRIGHT, BOLD!
