The fall season is incredible in the Pacific Northwest, as the green leaves of summer turn to beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. Autumn is a great time to plant and refresh your fading summer garden with trees, shrubs, and perennials that offer a spectacular fall show. Fall conditions help new plants settle in and grow strong roots before winter - the temperatures are mild and it often rains. We have a great selection of plants for fall color and we would like to share a few of our favorites.
Bold Color
Looking for some bold colors in tones of red, orange, and yellow?
Fireball Burning Bush offers a beautiful spectacle with leaves turning bright scarlet red and is great planted on its own as a specimen or planted in mass as a hedge.
The bluish-green leaves of Mount Airy Fothergilla change to orange, yellow and red to create a spectacular fall display! This shrub blooms in spring with fragrant white bottle-brush-shaped flower spikes.
A must-have shrub for sunny gardens is a blueberry! Blueberries have flowers in spring for pollinators, produce delicious edible berries in summer and the fall leaf color creates a spectacular show!
Fall color in the garden can be more than tones of red, orange and yellow. Incorporating silver and purple foliage perennials and shrubs can add depth and contrast.
The striking silver of Cushion Bush (Calocephalus brownie) creates a spectacular contrast with green or purple foliage plants, such as Forever Purple Heuchera (Heuchera ‘Forever Purple’). In summer, small yellow flowers bloom on top of the stems.
Silver Germander (Teucrium fruticans ‘Azureum’) is an awesome shrub with silvery white foliage and grows well in rockeries, alpine gardens or as a specimen in container plantings. The vivid blue flowers bloom in spring and attract bees and butterflies.
The deep purple leaves of Prince Calico Aster is a fabulous accent with silver foliage plants and ornamental grasses. While the Price Calico Aster grows about 2 feet tall, the lush dark purple-black scalloped leaves of Black Scallop Bugleweed (Ajuga) creep along the ground. An outstanding accent for fall & winter plantings in containers and the garden!
To add a bit of extra color, think about incorporating some beautiful fall-blooming cyclamen, ornamental cabbage or cheerful winter pansies.
Textures & Colors
Add some color and texture to the garden by mixing in evergreen perennials such as grasses and Libertia. The coffee-brown evergreen leaves of Cappuccino Sedge are a beautiful complement to dark green and purple foliage plants.
Goldfinger Libertia is a showstopper with distinctive golden-yellow leaves. It provides beautiful color throughout the season with white flowers in summer and stunning color in fall and winter.
A colorful garden doesn’t need to fade at the end of summer. There are many plants waiting to brighten your area with a colorful display and we would be happy to help you choose the best plants for your garden.