Long-time gardeners Tamara Paulat, and David Pinson, wanted to make their 2-acre, sloped yard in St. Helens, Oregon, more colourful in fall than spring and summer. Paul states, “It’s simple to put the fall season aside to clean,” but she wanted more. They chose trees and plants that looked their best late in the season. This included Japanese maples, gold grasses and flowering perennials. They are a laissez-faire gardener, not deadheading nor pruning and allowing most seed heads to remain on the ground through winter to feed birds. Planting beds will look great all year, thanks to large grasses and evergreen shrubs.
Fall Colors in Many Forms
Foliage, flowers, fruits, and seed heads enrich the fall garden with colour and interest. Pinson and Paulat recommend the following best late-season performers.
Shrub Rose
Some rose varieties offer vibrant hips as well as flowers. For example, an 8-foot tall shrub rose in Pinson’s garden is covered with red rose hips in the fall. It would be best to research the differences between varieties to ensure you have a good idea of what they look like.
Aster’ Purple Dome’
This compact native New England aster starts blooming in the late summer and continues until it frost. The hot pink flowers in Pinson’s garden stand out against the yellow autumn foliage.
‘Matrona’ Sedum
This upright Sedum will produce pink flowers that turn wine-red in August and October with reddish stems. The dried flower heads also enhance the landscape’s winter interest, so don’t cut it back before new growth emerges.
Douglas Aster
This western native aster, like its Eastern cousin, blooms from late summer through fall. The starry flower attracts all kinds of pollinators. This perennial thrives in moist areas such as along streams or borders to the pond.
Anise Hyssop
This native perennial is drought-tolerant and produces purple flowers in spikes that last into the fall. The anise-hyssop seeds last through winter and are used to feed small birds like goldfinches.
Orange Sedge
This sedge’s grasslike leaves almost seem to glow in autumn. It contrasts nicely with the brightly coloured crocosmia foliage behind it, echoing its leaf shape.
Baby Sage
This native salvia from the Southwest is beloved by honeybees and hummingbirds. It blooms in spring and slows down in summer. The flower display then resumes in the fall.
Fall Garden Design Tips
Paul and Pinson pay special attention to texture and shapes when planting fall colours. Contrasting leaves creates a more interesting mixture. Contrasting foliage creates a more interesting landscape than if everything is the same height. The couple placed low-growing Sedums with smaller grasses at the path edges. These plants are surrounded by spiky yucca and wispy Deergrass, which grow in height.
