If you garden in zones 5 through 9 and are looking for a small to medium shrub that has fall color, Itea virginica, commonly called Virginia Sweetspire, may be a good candidate for you. It has an upright growth habit and flowers in early summer. The flowers are white and like bottle brushes with nectar that is sought after by butterflies and other insects. Itea is a shrub that does well in sun or shade, which is a handy asset when surrounding plantings either grow up or die down, thereby changing the exposure. However, the red fall foliage color is more dramatic in a sunny site. I have Iteas in both sun and shade in my Midwest garden, and it is one of the few shrubs that will flower in shade. I plant them near evergreens as they like a slightly acid soil, but they also adapt well in neutral or alkaline soil. This is a deciduous shrub that lends itself to being planted in a serpentine curve to separate two garden areas, for example.In a shady woodland setting, they will develop colonies and naturalize. Offshoots, potted up, make an appropriate house warming gift as they can be planted nearly anywhere and thrive, and they look good as a specimen plant as they don’t need much pruning.The cultivar ‘Henry’s Garnet’ turns a dark red in late October in my garden, and ‘Little Henry’ is a more compact cultivar while ‘Shirley’s Compact’ is a true dwarf that is perfect in small areas.
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Winterberry
From late fall through winter, Ilex verticillata produces a grand display of bright red berries that persist and light up its branches long after all the leaves have fallen. Commonly called winterberry, but also known as Michigan holly or swamp holly, this is a deciduous type of holly for cold climates. However, only the female plants produce the colorful berries. Gardeners must plant one male near 3 to 5 females to ensure good pollination and fruiting. They perform best in full sun in acid moist soils, so they need to be watered in July and August if there is not good rain and be given acid fertilizer. ‘Afterglow’ is a cultivar with big orange-red berries. In a large planting, it is best to include both early and late blooming male shrubs to maximize pollination of the females. For instance, ‘Jim Dandy’ is a slow-growing dwarf male useful for pollinating early flowering females such as ‘Red Sprite’, which is a popular dwarf female maturing to less than 4 feet tall bearing large red fruits. A taller variety, ‘Sparkleberry’, matures to 12 feet and has the additional bonus of bearing dark red berries that often persist until spring. Winterberries are hardy in zones 3 through 9.
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Amsonia: Blue Stars
There are some perennials that provide an added bonus of foliage that changes color in the fall. For example, some species of Amsonia feature brilliant yellow foliage. The common name is blue stars, as the plants have pretty little blue flowers in the spring. Another, less poetic common name is dogbane. The narrow leaves are lancelike, similar to the foliage of a willow, and the stems have a milky sap. All Amsonias are native to North America and like full sun or partial shade and moist soil, but established plants can tolerate dry soils. Plants can be cut back after flowering to keep them compact as they can grow up to 4 feet in large clumps in zones 5 through 9. They can also be divided either in spring or fall. Amsonia ciliata or Downy Blue Star, native to our southeast, is a good one for small gardens, as its clumps are only a foot wide. Because of its pale blue flowers, it combines well with other spring bloomers and when its elegant thin leaves turn yellow it provides impact in the fall garden, especially next to dark purple asters. This is a plant that pays its way by performing well across the seasons.
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Autumn Textures
In Autumn, not only do the colors in the garden seem richer and more mellow, but textures also assume a more dominant role in plantings.The tall sedums become focal points in the perennial beds with their intricate flower heads and fleshy leaves. The flat shape of the flower heads makes perfect platforms for bees and butterflies.Trees, such as Japanese maples, and shrubs, such as Smokebush and Ninebark, add the darker notes to the symphony of leaf colors, and vines such as Sweet Autumn clematis contribute the lighter notes of their seed heads. All types of Salvia flowers, but especially the blue ones, seem to look more vibrant in the fall light.Annuals such as Nicotiana, Cleome and Gomphrena, provide a variety of flower and leaf shapes and textures, and of course there are so many seed heads and berries for the birds to enjoy. The tall, airy Russian Sage and the perennial Asters and Chrysanthemums carry the bloom across the garden against a tapestry of contrasting foliage and branching patterns provided by the woody plants. The Burning Bushes glow. Even the fuzzy wooly thyme, the gray felted Lambs Ears and the herbs in the Kitchen Garden are integral parts of Autumn’s textural display.
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Thinking Ahead
Most of our flowering plants are past their prime in fall, exhausted after their exuberant earlier displays. As we walk around our gardens, we notice all those brown stalks we need to remove from the daylilies, and lots of spent plants with shabby foliage that needs cutting back.Aggressive perennials, such as monarda and black-eyed Susans may have increased to the point where we will have to get rid of some. If the soil isn’t too dry, excess monarda can be pulled quite easily.Perennials that have grown into over large clumps, such as iris, goldenrod, and coneflowers, can be divided with a spade and given new homes in other locations, be shared with friends, or be consigned to the compost pile.Take a good long look at your garden and think about how you want it to be next year.
Do you need to reduce, increase, or alternate specific colors?
What do you have already that provides interest at successive times during the growing season?
Were there periods this past year when you noticed there was nothing in bloom?
Think of color in terms of foliage as well as bloom, and what you can add to create a more pleasing effect. Maybe more height, perhaps plants on a trellis or arbour, could be added next year? Fall is a season of promise for gardeners who can envision new possibilities. As Victor Hugo said:“A little garden in which to walk. An immensity in which to dream.”
Sverige