Pump up Your Perennial Garden this Fall!
August 31st, 2009
Filed in Annuals and Perennials
Tags: fall, hostas, perennials
Now is a perfect time to plant perennials. The summer is winding down, the evening temperatures are cooling off, and plants are transitioning from flowering (reproducing) to stockpiling nutrients and energy for the winter. Most garden centers are trying to clean out their nurseries, and mail-order catalogues are getting rid of excess stock before moving it up to the next sized pot. That makes the fall a perfect time to find great deals on new plants!
Planting in the fall, before hard frosts set in, allows the plants to establish roots, giving them a head start in the spring. These fall-planted perennials will be poised to burst into growth when warm weather comes in the spring-ahead of anything you plant in the spring.
Old Standbys For the Garden
If you can’t decide what to add to your garden, consider some of these garden standbys. They work well in many different growing zones and growing conditions, and there’s always room for another one!
Purple Coneflowers
Purple Coneflower: Native to the prairie regions of North America, coneflowers grow best in full sun, rich, well-drained soil. Birds and butterflies love them.
Hosta: Perfect for dry shade, and part-shade in cooler climates. There are thousands of colors and cultivars.
Sedum
Sedum: Some varieties of sedum bloom in the summer, and others in the fall. There are creeping varieties good for rock gardens, and upright varieties that are right at home in the perennial border. All sedum grow best in full sun, and well drained (not overly moist) soils.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental Grass: These add beauty and architectural interest to every garden. Plant near the back of a garden, or use as foundation plants to break up a particularly severe building line.
Knockout Roses
Knockout roses: Technically shrubs, knockouts are over-achievers in the garden. They bloom from frost to frost, take well to pruning, and are very disease-resistant.
Daylilies: Yes, some people get bored of daylilies, but they are easy to take care of and are drought, insect and disease resistant. They are great for planting in hard to reach areas, around mail boxes, as masses, and more. If you find gallon plants on sale, snap some up. You can use them everywhere.
Consider late-summer nursery and plant sales to be a good time to stock up on basics to fill in any areas that might need a kick for next year, or to add a bit of color to a formerly un-planted area.
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