8 Fantastic Fall Plant Combinations for Lovely Late-Season Gardens

Discover stunning plant pairings that end the growing season with a bang

Fallis stark magic at Swift River Farm , a individual landscape in Petersham , Massachusetts . Several different gardens meander together to create this dynamic quad , including awoodlandarea , a more formal section withhedgesand stonework , an alpine environment , and a sweepingmeadow . These unlike areas lend themselves to unique flora palette and design but still bring together as one unit . While this space smoothen during the growing time of year , the colder nights of fall bring a spectacular encore . As the foliage within the beds and borders begin to turn , it echoes the changing color of the sweeping New England hillsides in the space at the same time that fall - flowering plants collapse into bloom . Seeking out new and interesting additions as well as jab works out and moving them around helped make exciting compounding that prioritize complementary and contrast colors , texture , and signifier . Autumn does n’t have to be a quiet time in the garden if you design compelling vignettes that will extend your garden ’s pursuit until winter .

Muted primary colors shine amid vertical structures

These tone of voice of brown , red , yellow , and blue make a vivacious fall display . deep scarlet foliage of ‘ Dark Towers ’ penstemon chassis horizontal spears , which work against the bright blue radial disk of late - blooming ‘ October Skies ’ redolent aster ’s flowers . The strongly erect pass off seeded player head of snowy Culver ’s etymon and directly - topped umbel of patrinia add structure to the scene . Bleached - blond ‘ Karl Foerster ’ feather reed grass creates a lustrous perpendicular idiom . And who needs a hedging when this scene is so beautifully set off against the green backdrop of a matured woods ’s bound ?

Expert tip: Save your grasses from winter pests

Burrowing voles are still active during winter and beloved to munch on the antecedent of perennials , especially ornamental dope . Spray some vole repellent on your Grass periodically to save them from thirsty critters .

Extend the view with layers of height

In this area of the hayfield garden , the muscular form , burgundy stems , and ruddy flowers of ‘ Matrona ’ sedum show up vividly against yellow - green threadleaf bluestar , which has feathery leafage . The colored seed forefront of majestic coneflower provide further direct contrast . loom in the background is the shrublike New York vernonia , whose purple flowers have yielded to dark , beady seed head that give this plant a o.k. grain . The pinkish - purple blooms of New England aster reverberate back to the ‘ Matrona ’ sedum below . Different plant layers create astuteness and add demarcation to this small place .

Fine-textured plants can still look bold

Threadleaf bluestar is one of the most striking downfall plants , with its truly distinctive coloring and graceful shape ; it make anything farm next to it look really good . At this stage of fall , its yellowish green coloring has deepened to prosperous . Its vertical neighbour , Russian salvia , support out sharply next to it even though its flower have faded to a soft gray - gentle . Both plant life shine against the rust-brown backdrop of ‘ Henry Eilers ’ sweet coneflower . The finespun textures of all three perennials marry this planting together .

Bright yellow and green highlight contrasting leaves

Even after all those cheery spring flowers are long move , interesting foliation continues to carry the timber garden through summer and into fall . Here the tawny frond of ostrich fern give a nod to the color of the bright lily-livered ‘ Montana Aureomarginata ’ hosta leaves . Verdant light unripe ‘ Gallic Braid ’ genus Epimedium endure out against the deeper greens of a hellebore , meadow geranium , and ‘ Jack Frost ’ brunnera . The hellebore ’s dissected leaf along with the painted fern ’s bipinnate leaf create interesting shapes and texture against the decoration - shaped foliage of ‘ Mariessi ’ doublefile viburnum . you could find the coolness of the season in this vignette .

Create swaths of color with spreading perennials

This aboriginal peck mint glows a minty green against the cranberry Marxist of tall tick-weed and its chicken - ochre seed heads . Both plant have lancet - shaped leaf that give them a similar descriptor . These perennial bulk up quick and can take up some space , making them bang-up choices to compete with less worthy plants . They also have long seasons of interest ; mountain mickle heyday fade to seed heads almost without anyone noticing , and the brainy later - season colouration of tall coreopsis , reverberate by trees on the distant hillside , makes it a great flora for summer and fall .

Fall flowers play off of vibrant foliage

A hedging of ‘ Green Velvet ’ Turkish boxwood sort out the lawn from a more formally enclosed garden where there are a phone number of romantic plant life , such as these Japanese anemones . The dainty pink flowers of ‘ Robustissima ’ and livid blooms of ‘ Honorine Jobert ’ hang disingenuously over the edge of the hedge , standing out starkly against the dark , sheer leafage of ‘ blessing ’ smokebush . This shrub ’s upright , columniform habit contrasts with the tidy , flesh out one of ‘ Gold Mound ’ spiraea , which offer a chartreuse glow in the background .

Pair bright blooms with fading greenery

Vibrant purple is a standout semblance at this metre of year and is often found in roadside and ditches from the peak of our aboriginal asters . The nativar ‘ Raydon ’s Favorite ’ boast radiant old maid disks that stand out against fade peony foliage , which contains shades of yellow , bronze , scarlet , and lightsome jet . Purple always stands out against sensationalistic , its full complement on the color wheel . The dark green of the aster leaves and vastly unlike leaf conformation and textures of the two plants further stress the contrast .

Some tender plants can reward you late in the season

Certain plants produce as annuals can proffer so much late into fall , long past when petunias ( Petuniaspp . and cvs . , annual ) and cosmos ( Cosmosspp . and cvs . , annual ) might have give up the ghost . Some tender perennials get even better as the cold weather turns , such as this ‘ Mahogany Splendor ’ hibiscus , with its inscrutable burgundy , palmate leafage that echoes the bod and color of maple farewell ( Acerspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) . It partner off nicely with the contrasting , lacey yellow umbels and seed heads of sweet fennel , a suddenly - lived perennial often produce as an annual here in the Northeast .

Fall maintenance should bolster the display

How do you clean up the garden in autumn and prepare for winter without sacrificing the late - season show ? edit out back some plant life and leave others alone to maximize the garden ’s potential drop in late downfall and winter .

Keep most faded plants for wildlife and winter interest

Many perennials in the hayfield garden are pull up stakes stand through autumn and winter , let in vernacular milkweed ( Asclepiassyriaca , Zones 3–9 ; photo right ) , marvelous coreopsis , purple coneflower , sedums , asters , and ornamental grasses . Their seed is food for snort over wintertime , and their faded growth provide worthful habitat for insects and other brute . Additionally , their geomorphological seed head keep the garden interesting from fall till spring . Once wintertime terminate , the hayfield gets completely mowed down and the perennials in the other areas of the garden are cut back .

Trim back perennials that distract from the show

A few plants do require to be removed before wintertime sets in . willow tree - leave sunflower ( Helianthussalicifolius , Zones 4–9 ) , which can reach 8 foot marvellous during the growing season , as well as hairy mountain mess and some other tall perennials tend to collapse and await unsightly if not cut down in fall . Plants whose leafage gets wet and mushy , like Hosta , are also cut back to prevent an untempting mess .

*Invasive Alert:

Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica)

This plant is weigh invasive in AL , GA , IN , KY , PA , TN , and VA .

Sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

This plant is considered invasive in CA , OR , WA , and WV .

Please visitinvasiveplantatlas.orgfor more selective information .

Helen O’Donnell is a garden designer and the carbon monoxide gas - possessor of The Bunker Farm , a plant baby’s room and farm in Dummerston , Vermont . Bruce Lockhart is a retired doc and embassador for The Garden Conservancy who has been working on building his ambition garden in Petersham , Massachusetts , fortwenty - five yr .

Photos , except where observe : Diana Koehm

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fall plant combinations