Fall For Color: Planting

Color in beds, borders and patio containers doesn’t have to vanish after the last days of summer. Plant breeders are introducing season-extending plants in traditional autumn lines, like mums, pansies and asters, as well as hybrids of these traditional crops developed specifically for the fall market.

By experimenting with different combinations of traditional crops and identifying nontraditional, hardy plant material for fall, landscape contractors can create one-of-a-kind plantings that hold their color as temperatures plummet.

"The reality is that many plants out there are not new to the industry, but we’re using them in new ways," said Peggy Campbell, director of education for Molbak’s, a high-end garden center in Woodinville, Wash. "When you’re looking at plants for any area of the country, take a look at what plants have ornamental value and which ones are hardy in that climate to extend the season."

In cooler regions across the United States, winter often drains landscapes of their color. Mums, which have 6- to 8-week bloom periods, and the shifting colors of fall foliage offer some fleeting color to landscapes on the East Coast and in the Midwest, said Campbell.

Conversely, warmer climates, which don’t have true seasons, are deprived of the annual spectacle of fall foliage. On the West Coast, for example, landscape contractors rely heavily on pansies for fall color, Campbell noted, adding that mums don’t have the same allure in this region. "Landscape contractors don’t plant them in the huge quantities they do with pansies," she said. "Pansies give you more bang for the buck. If you really want nonstop color, look at pansies."

Campbell emphasized the importance of "thinking outside the box" when choosing material for fall plantings. "The box," she said, includes dusty miller, mums, pansies, asters and ornamental cabbage and kale. Her advice: identify hardy plants, play with different combinations in containers and then try successful ones in landscape beds.

THE FALL PALETTE. For fall color, Ben Lowell, owner, BJL Landscape, Denville, N.J., uses asters, goldenrod, burning bush and a variety of shrubs and trees, some with colorful berries. "I try to bring a lot of pictures of jobs we’ve done (for the client)," Lowell explained. "We try to take pictures of jobs at different times of the year to show what the landscape can look like – not just for the growing season but in fall and winter."

Mums and flowering cabbage and kale are ideal crops for fall plantings, offered Greg Fracker, president and owner, Colorscapes by Design, Newark, Ohio. "Although it has been around for awhile, just recently, we found out flowering cabbage is really neat, and people like it because it’s different," he said. Fracker also plants red maples, dogwoods, Hawthorns, Itea and burning bush for brilliant shows of fall color in reds, oranges and yellows.

These traditional selections may suit most tastes, but there are certainly an abundance of options for fall color beyond the basics. In fact, some propagators, like Proven Winners of Bonsall, Calif., are specifically focusing their breeding efforts on the fall market.

While the spring season welcomes a number of bedding plant introductions each year, the fall market, in comparison, has been neglected, according to Kerstin Ouellet, marketing director for Proven Winners. Most people have long depended on a small assortment of traditional, mass market products such as mums, pansies and asters. The lack of product variety led Proven Winners to introduce its now 4-year-old Fall Magic line as a companion to traditional fall blooming plants.

The company works with breeders worldwide to grow its selection of fall material. "We look for plants that perform well in fall and that have a long show of color," Ouellet said. "The varieties we’re offering are hardy to zone 5 and some in zone 4. They’re pretty much for all climates."

Proven Winners introduced 16 new varieties this year, bringing the total to 34, Ouellet reported. Some introductions are new hybrids of more traditional plants, like mums.

One introduction, Ajuga reptans ‘Caitlin’s Giant,’ has metallic foliage that changes from olive green to a deep, reddish purple as the temperature drops. In spring, its large leaves are set off with royal blue flowers. Another, Erysimum linifolium ‘Variegatum,’ is a bushy plant with broad, creamy yellow margins along its leaves. The plant maintains its bright hues after a frost, and a full flush of flowers in bright lilac arrives in spring.

Ornamental grasses also offer interest in fall and winter as their plumes change color and sway in the wind. Campbell suggests experimenting with ornamental grasses or sedges for the fall landscape. In her Pacific Northwest location, she has had success with Carex, Acorus and evergreen groundcovers like Ajuga.

Other plants she recommends trying for innovative fall containers, baskets or beds include: Heuchera, evergreen thymes, lavender, rosemary, sage, hardy Cyclamen and primroses. "Another plant that has been fun to use is Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights,’ which can be planted in late summer or early fall," Campbell said. "The leaf petioles and stems are very intensely bright colors, and the plants keep growing through the winter season."

Because the plant palette is fairly limited, Debby Cole, president, Greater Texas Landscapes, Austin, Texas, mixes up different types of plants in different color combinations for a more dramatic fall landscape. For variety, Cole plants allysum, dianthus, snapdragons in a variety of sizes and tulips alongside more traditional material, like pansies. "For awhile, we planted just one kind of pansy or snapdragon," she said. "Now we try to mix different flowers and put in bulbs interspersed." (For more plants to try in the fall landscape, see below.)

PLANTING IN FALL. According to most landscape contractors, there’s not that much of a difference between planting in fall and planting at any other time of the year. "We follow the same procedures as in spring and summer," said Fracker. "The fall is basically no different for us. It’s like we experience two springs in one year."

Contractors plant bulbs well into the winter, and some plant more trees and shrubs in fall than they do in summer. One of the most obvious benefits of fall planting – for both crews and trees – is that neither must battle the scorching hot sun. "The air temperatures are cooling off, and if we get things in early enough, we get root growth without the top being stressed," said Cole.

Cole said she is uncomfortable planting native perennials and smaller plants in fall because they are more likely to be caught by a freeze before they can become firmly established. "We won’t plant them unless we absolutely have to for a commercial situation," Cole said. "We try and convince people to wait until spring. We don’t want to plant something that looks as though it is dying."

When freezing weather threatens, Lowell also holds off on planting perennials. "There’s really no top growth," Lowell said, "so the client can’t see what we’re planting. Plus, the smaller ones frost heave if they don’t root properly."

The most vital consideration for Fracker is not waiting too late in fall to plant material. Fracker, whose business is based in the Midwest, can plant in his climate until December. He said his plant losses are actually fewer in fall than in the summer. "I think it’s because the plants have a longer period to adjust (through the winter)," Fracker said.

PLANTING CHALLENGES. Planting in fall isn’t always simple. For example, Lowell often faces problems with plant availability. "Suppliers on the East Coast are not shipping out as many plants as in the South," Lowell said. "In my area (New Jersey), we use a lot of native plants for our plantings. We have found in fall and late in the season, they are tough to find."

Fracker said his biggest challenge is educating clients "so they think you’re not planting dead plants after the first hard frost." For example, the client must know that perennials start to turn brown and blacken off. "You have to explain that you’re planting the root ball," Fracker said. "On deciduous shrubs, you have to explain that they are not dying. (Fall planting) is more of an educational thing because clients are used to you planting material that’s nice and green."

Continued warm winters are a source of worry for Campbell. "This year, we had the warmest winter (in the Seattle area) on record," she said. "As a result, some plants never went dormant, or they only went into dormancy for a very short time. The public might be getting used to this. If we have severe weather next year, the plants will take a hit. People tend not to protect their plants if they’ve gotten used to mild winters."

Another challenge for Campbell is simply keeping up with a constant workload. "We’ve got three seasons – fall, winter and spring," she said, adding that planting bulbs in fall can be especially labor intensive. "In fall, we have to plant twice. We plant with a bulb and then overplant (with fall material). This is time consuming. I wish there was some type of machine to go through, dig the hole and plop the bulb in."

Despite the hefty workload, Campbell said there isn’t much she doesn’t like about fall planting. Fall color, she said, offers solace to the weather weary. "In the Seattle area and around western Washington and Oregon, people have to see color," she said. "Last winter, we had 90 days straight of rain. That gets a little tiresome and dreary. People rely on the landscape to pull themselves through that winter season."