Fall Planting and Creating Colorful Gardens

Fall Planting and Creating Colorful Gardens

Fall is an exciting time in the garden center as new stock floods into the nursery in time for fall planting. When it comes to “fall color” we’re not just talking about how the foliage changes in autumn! I was pleased to find dozens of plants with great foliage colors and textures when I walked though the garden center today, because when designing a landscape it’s smart to start with foliage first. If you’ve got colorful leaves and great textures of foliage, your garden will always be interesting whether something is in flower or not. Here are just a few plants that caught my eye this morning.

Fothergilla ‘Blue Shadow’ is one of my favorite shrubs for part sun or part shade. The leaves are a silver-blue all summer long, and then they change into shades of red, purple and orange in the fall. And in early spring the plant is covered with white flowers before the leaves emerge. A great variety of our native Fothergilla.

This white beautyberry is as pretty in flower as it will be once the berries form in the fall. If you’re looking for a landscape plant that’s beyond “the same old same old,” this is a shrub for you. For the best look, plant it where it can grow 6 feet tall and wide and don’t shear it into a ball or cube.

Need a small tree that flowers for a long time? This tree-form of the Pinky Winky Hydrangea fits that description. It will grow 8 to 10 feet tall and about as wide, but Pinky Winky also has an upright growth habit and the flowers don’t flop like other Hydrangea paniculata varieties are prone to. Pinky Winky flowers start out white in July and turn bi-color white and pink in August, becoming dark pink in September.

If you have a small space where you need an upright evergreen to screen a meter or other utilities, look no further than this Japanese Plum Yew. Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’ (yes, it’s a mouthful!) is an upright variety that stays very dark green all winter. You can see in this photo how nicely it combines with variegated or flowering plants as well. It’s a team player.

Come in to see the range of plants we have in the nursery right now. From golden arborvitaes to the lovely blue hollies, you have your choice of colorful plants that are short, medium or tall.

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