Labor Day may be the unofficial end to the summer season, but your landscape doesn’t need to know that. While it’s true that some of our summer perennials are beginning to flag, there’s a whole new group of late-summer and early fall beauties ready to show off. If you’re not ready for the season to end, we have a few late-blooming perennials that are happy to fill your space with color all the way into fall.
Rudbeckia
Better known as black-eyed Susan, rudbeckia brings that cheerful, golden-yellow sunflower look to your fall garden. Dozens of small, star-like blooms cover the foliage, creating a mound of bright color that looks stunning as a single specimen, grouped in mass planting, or lined up along a border. Or, you might include it in a nature-inspired pollinator or bird-friendly landscape with other favorites in the aster family like perennial mum, coneflower, coreopsis, and gaillardia.
Sedum
Sedum is a standout in fall landscapes. It’s drought-tolerant, loves the sun, and attracts a host of butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to its bright flowers. Although sedum’s fleshy, succulent foliage and early buds look great all through the growing season, sedum really comes into its own in August and September when its tightly-clustered blooms open fully and take on richer shades of deep pink, mauve, and raspberry. It’s no wonder that three of our sedum cultivars – ‘Autumn Charm,’ ‘Autumn Fire,’ and ‘Autumn Joy’ – are named for this time of year.
Grasses
Ornamental grasses give us a taste of the wide-open freedom of a flowing Nebraska prairie – even in a well-ordered landscape – and fall is their time to show off. Many of our grasses bloom this time of year, putting out a fascinating assortment of plumed, bottle-brush, or flag-like flower heads, depending on the variety. And in several varieties, the foliage – which all summer has represented every shade of green from lime to steely blue – now begins to take on rich shades of russet, gold, and bronze. Left standing through the winter, their seed heads attract and feed a variety of birds too.
Solidago
One type of solidago – also known as goldenrod – is Nebraska’s beautiful state flower, but that prairie native may be a little tall and undisciplined for most suburban landscapes. Thankfully, solidago’s bright sunshine-yellow color is found in shorter, tidier cultivars like ‘Fireworks’ and ‘Little Lemon’ too. If you look closely at the blossoms, you’ll see hundreds and hundreds of tiny blooms – like mini sunflowers – covering the feather-like plumes. Bees, butterflies, and soldier beetles appreciate them too. As other flowers begin to disappear, solidago becomes an important late-season food source for many of our native pollinators.
Toad Lily
Most of our favorite late-summer and fall perennials are sun-lovers, but that doesn’t mean your shade garden has to be done for the season either. Although it looks like something we would see in the spring or early summer, toad lily begins putting out its intriguing blooms in late August and September just when other perennials are beginning to fade. The white to pale lavender lily flowers – featuring prominent dalmatian-like purple spots – appear singly or in small clusters on tall stems above clumps of oblong foliage. Toad lily is happiest in a spot with part- to full shade and consistent soil moisture.
Fall is a Great Time to Plant
If you think your landscape is missing a boost of color this time of year, fall is a great time to add new late-blooming perennials. Just stop by the Nursery Yard – we’ll be happy to show you around and help you find the perfect plant for your space.
