Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Fall plant picks – Assorted varieties
As we work our way into Fall there are some plants that we all associate with that time of year. I talked about some Fall picks last week, but there are more! From nurseries to grocery stores, you’ll find annual mums. I’ve even see GAS stations selling them. Hmmm, best bet is your local nursery!
But what about perennials. Smooth Blue Aster is a true native plant with sturdy growth habit of just 3 feet tall. The foliage is a waxy blue-gray that stays neat and clean all season long. This one is in my native butterfly garden.
Blueberry bushes are thought of mainly for their fabulous blueberries but they offer stunning red Fall foliage. There are many new cultivars for cold zone gardens. One is ‘Northsky’, a dwarf blueberry from the University of Minnesota, that grows to just 18 inches tall with a 2 to 3 foot spread. The berries are a beautiful sky blue and are quite tasty. Blueberries require an acidic soil, which means testing your soil and amending as recommended. Do this before planting. Add peat moss at planting time as well and ammonium sulfate or elemental sulfur each Spring.
Ornamental grasses are in their glory as I pointed out last week.
Another late blooming beauty is Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’. It grows up to 4 feet tall with a mass of soft powder-blue flower spikes from July to frost, making it a magnet for butterflies.
And there’s Goldenrod aka Solidago. This is a native that does NOT cause allergies to flare, although it often gets blamed. There are some garden cultivars of this pretty yellow plant.
Since now’s a great time to plant trees, consider Maple trees, Burning Bush…
