By using
fall-blooming perennials, you can keep
your landscape and garden interesting
even during the cooler months.
Most fall-blooming plants are hardy,
long-lived and come in vivid colors. They
can be planted from spring until December.
The dried flowers of fall-blooming
perennials such as found on Autumn
Joy sedum and many perennial grasses can
remain in the garden during winter, adding
beauty to the landscape and providing
a feeding place for birds.
Fall is a good time to purchase and plant
fall blooming plants because you can see
what the flowers look like. However, many
fall blooming shrubs such as Camellia
sasanquas, perennials, annuals, and trees
such as the hybrid maples show fabulous
arrays of flower or foliage color in the
fall and are kept in stock and available
at the nursery year-round.
One interesting fall-flowering plant
is the toad lily, which thrives in partial
shade and moist soil and produces clusters
of orchid-like flowers covered with purple
speckles. It blooms from late September
until frost.
For daisy lovers, there's Chrysanthemum
nipponicum, which is covered with yellow-
centered flowers with white petals. It
looks very much like a shasta daisy.
Others are Japanese anemone, with large
pink, reddish or white petals; woods aster,
with a profusion of iridescent purple
or pink flowers, and Chrysanthemum pacificum,
grown for its dusky grey-green foliage
trimmed with silver and late yellow flower
clusters.
Many perennials and shrubs
provide added interest in the winter.
In late summer Russian sage produces spikes
of fragrant purple flowers above silvery
foliage. When winter comes, the leaves
and stalks bleach to a silvery white.
It looks great next to shrubs
with red berries.
Cultivars of wild goldenrod are extremely
hardy and do well in partial shade and
dry soil. In the fall, they're covered
with golden-yellow flowers. After frost,
the flowers turn fluffy white and later
golden brown. They can be picked for dried
arrangements.
Joe Pye weed grows 4-6 feet high with
dark green, leathery foliage and enormous,
dusky purple flowers reaching 10"
in diameter! The flowers start out dusky
purple and go through many color changes,
staying attractive all winter long. It
likes moist soil but will do fine in drier
gardens.
Sedums have long been used for their
winter beauty. Bright pink, pale pink
or reddish flowers form clusters up to
6 inches across, resemling heads of cauliflower.
The stems turn tawny and the seedheads
a blackish-brown when cold weather comes.
Pansies
and a few other winter annuals such as
ornamental cabbage and kale, parsely,
swiss chard, and helichrysum 'Icicles'
are great for bringing splashes of vibrant
color to the fall and winter landscape.
Plant them in flower
beds or containers/pots.
'Knock
Out' Roses for fall color - The
Knockout Rose continues to amaze us. Since
2002, we have yet to a leaf spot or any
major insect damage. This rose begins
blooming in March and doesn't stop until
around Christmas! Aside from the original
'Cherry Red', there are three new introductions
of the Knock Out Rose: pink, blush pink,
and the most recent: the 'Knock Out Double'
rose, whicch produces masses of double
blooms!
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The
Knock Out Rose is the most disesse-free,
low maintenance shrub rose we have
come across ever! In phases, masses
of cherry-red flowers are produced
from April to November. We planted
the first Knock Out in our trial garden
in 2002 and since then the foliage
has shown itself to be virtually disease
free. We have yet to spray them. A
rose we would recommend to everybody
and therefore a Wilson Bros. Favorite!
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Knock
Out Pink, Blush, and the 2006
New Introduction 'Double Knockout'
(pictured left) are three more
recent introductions having
the same disease-free qualities
as their brother, Knock Out
Cherry. |
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Another
fabulous 2006 New Itroduction from
William Radler, the famous breeder
of the award winning Knock Out®.
Radler combined the Knockout and a
Carefree rose to create this amazing
yellow beauty. Clear yellow blooms
appear in abundant clusters from spring
until fall. These non-fading blooms
survive even the hottest of summers.
This outstanding performer is virtually
maintenance free, and another rose
you won't want to be without! |
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This
flame-red offspring of the famous
Knock Out kicks the competition up
a notch when it comes to disease resistance.
Home Run has a phenomenal fortitude
against the dreaded black spot (like
its father). But, unlike Dad, it is
also completely resistant to powdery
mildew & has a much higher level
of tolerance to downy as well. Rounded,
bushy, fast-to-flower and nearly always
in color (10 months), it hits a grand
slam in the landscape & scores
lots of points in a pot, too. |
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Planting Instructions
for Fall Bloomers
For planting intstructions on the various
fall blooming plants and trees visit the
following sections of the website:
Planting
Perennials I
Planting
Annuals I
Planting
Shrubs I
Planting
Trees I
Planting
Roses
Maintaining
Your Garden Plants
Summer Care
- Plants in your garden will need attention
throughout the growing season. Weed
control and provision for adequate moisture
are two important cultural necessities.
When rainfall is less
than 1 inch per week, provide additional
moisture to the plants that are not
drought tolerant.
The use of a mulch is
an attractive and effective means of
controlling weeds and maintaining constant
soil moisture and temperature for the
root systems of your plants. Mulches
that you might consider include bark
chips or shredded bark. Mulch should
be applied at least 2 inches deep.
You may also want to consider
using a drip irrigation system or have
a sprinkler system installed.
Fertilization
- Fertilize your perennial
plants about every 6 to 8 weeks during
the growing season with a good granular
flower food such as Bloom Start. If
you make
your own compost you can substitute
fertilizer with it. Discontinue fertilization
in late summer to allow the plants to
go into dormancy for the winter.
Fertilize shrubs and trees
with 14-7-7 Nursery & Landscape
slow-release fertilzer, once
in the early spring and again in fall.
Pruning and Deadheading
Perennials - You may
deadhead (remove spent or faded flowers)
all season long o perennials. Deadheading
encourages the development of new flowers.
In late fall or early winter, when your
perennials have finished blooming and
have died back for the season, you may
remove dead foliage.
Pruning
Shrubs I
Pruning
Trees I
Pruning
Roses
WARNING:
Do not prune back Lantanas in the Fall,
doing so will ensure death of the plant.
Wait until spring when new growth begins
to emerge to prune back Lantanas. At
this time prune them back to just above
where new growth has stopped emerging.
After cuting back dead
foliage you may want to winterize your
garden by applying an inch or two of
loose mulch over the perennials.
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