More Than Mums in the Autumn Garden

By Tammy Thornton

Nothing says fall like pumpkins, hayrides, and mums (chrysanthemums). Once I reluctantly accept that summer is over, I love and embrace the rich colors of fall. Orange pumpkins coupled with burgundy and yellow mums revive the tired summer garden and lead the way to a new season. Though mums are essential flowers in the fall garden, they are just one of the many fall-blooming perennials you can choose from this time of year.

When buying mums, choose those that include unopened buds and deadhead any spent flowers to encourage new blooms and keep them looking good as long as possible.  Just like any potted plant, keep your mums well-watered as they will dry out faster than those planted in the ground.  Many times I see mums kicked to the curb after they have finished blooming, and I wonder if people realize that mums are perennials that can be planted in your garden to bloom year after year.  Generally, if you find mums for sale at an outdoor nursery, those will be hardy mums, as opposed to the pampered ones growing inside. The quicker you get them into the ground, the better chance you have of success, as you will give the roots time to grow before winter frosts.  Once your mums are established, you will want to prune them twice during the following season to give them that nice rounded shape and to encourage blooms. 

But mums are just the start to your fall garden.  Instead of  wondering if he “loves you” or “loves you not”, just forget him and plant Montauk daisies (also called Nippon daisies).  Like all daisies, they have a cheery look, but Montauks are the toughies of the daisy family with dark green, leather leaves that are salt and drought tolerant and will hold up to a light frost.  (For summer-blooming daisies, choose Shasta daisies.)  Asters, also known as Michaelmas daisies, are fall-blooming perennials that, left unpruned, will tower above the other flowers in your garden.  Butterflies and other pollinators can’t resist them. You will often find these purple or pink flowers being sold as “mums” in the fall.  But they really aren’t mums or daisies, though they do have daisy-like flowers. Another plant in the aster family is Helianthus. That may be a mouthful to say unless you break it apart: Helia–referring to the Greek word for sun and Anthus–for flower.  That’s right, the beloved sunflower can also be a perennial. Though most of us are familiar with annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus),  there are also perennial sunflowers, which are easy to maintain but can spread easily.  For similar-looking flowers, grow perennial black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia).  Autumn Joy sedum or stonecrop is another easy to grow fall-blooming perennial. With its succulent leaves, you will enjoy this plant all summer.  The pink to rust-red flowers in the fall are just a bonus.  Sedum can be easily propagated from cuttings, giving you many “free” plants for years to come.

Though it’s great to have a year-round perennial garden, adding a few annuals for pops of color in your fall garden can freshen up bare spots. Ornamental peppers come in red, yellow, orange, and purple. Pansies come in wide ranges of fall colors and seem to have a “happy face” to make you smile back. Though pansies don’t like the heat, they love cool weather.  I’ve even had pansies blooming through the snow.  Marigolds have been rehearsing for fall since early summer.  Dressed in oranges, reds, and yellows, they complement your fall flowers and produce seeds that can be collected for the following spring and summer. For an unusual fall flower, plant celosia.  Some varieties look like flames of fire in yellow, red, and orange, but others look like velvet pieces of coral (cockscomb celosia). You can also hang them to dry for a colorful addition to a dried flower arrangement.  Don’t forget ornamental cabbage and kale, grown for their beautiful foliage that becomes more vibrant in cooler temperatures.

Your options for the fall garden are limitless. Choose plants such as coral bells, viburnum, and oakleaf hydrangea for their fall foliage and honesty for its unique seed pods that are unrecognizable from its spring-blooming flowers.  Once you start planning for year-round interest in your garden, you will see plants in a different light, noticing how they change with the seasons.  Shore Local News would love to see the creative ways our readers use plants to change your gardens with the seasons.  Please send your pictures, questions, and comments to shorelocalgardener@gmail.com.

Tammy Thornton is a mom of four, a substitute teacher, and a Sunday school teacher.  She is passionate about gardening and cooking, and loves the beach.