Roses and dahlias are in fine form in the fall

IN THE GARDEN

We may be poised for the brilliant display of fall foliage, yet there are a few plants that are reluctant to leave the scene, to be acknowledged only as remnants of summer. They bravely resist the first hints of frost, determined to hold on to the bitter end.

These are the plants that have a role to fulfil in a garden designed to have a succession of colour from spring beyond fall.

A garden can easily be colourful for almost this length of time, simply by planting petunias or other cold-hardy annuals as early as possible. They’ll provide colour for months, but it’s always the same colour.

By using a variety of shrubs, perennials and annuals that take their turn to step onto the stage, however briefly, the garden becomes a slow motion movie through all four seasons.

The stars of fall include a few summer holdouts. We eagerly await the first rose of spring, then they rest through the heat of summer or are outpaced by clematis, dahlias and other summer bloomers.

Come late September and often well into October, they put on a last performance to remind us of their magnificence.

The dahlias, too, are as fine as ever, though they’ll soon succumb when the nights turn cold.

There are many plants that wait until the end of the season before flowering, and these are the ones that complete the sequence. There are the asters, mums and anemones, of course. And I must say I’m loving the pristine whiteness of Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert.’ It’s the 2016 Perennial Plant of the Year I wrote of, and planted this year (oh yes, white is definitely a colour).

A regular in my garden that takes its turn in fall is a pink Chelone lyonii, known as turtlehead. That’s because of the shape of the flowers. It’s a fine plant and surely deserves a more attractive name than turtlehead, not that I don’t like turtles.

Regardless, I planted another this spring that’s also blooming. It’s Chelone glabra “Black Ace.” Despite the name, the flowers are white. Both these plants prefer moist soils and are well-suited for a rain garden, which is not what mine has been this year.

Forever in my garden I’ve had an old sneezeweed — Helenium autumnale, another plant named for Helen of Troy. The common name of sneezeweed is not because it causes sneezing, at least not while it’s growing. The dried leaves were once used to make snuff. Taking snuff causes sneezing which was said to rid the body of evil spirits.

It’s one of those plants that if cut back in early June will produce a more stocky and more floriferous plant. It’s available in a range of colours, in shades of yellow, orange, reds, and bronze. These are fall colours.

And for a bit of blue, I planted a woody perennial, Caryopteris “Good As Gold.” I thought I’d lost it over winter as it died back completely, but it flowers on new wood and is now performing beautifully. The blue flowers contrast so well with the lemony yellow foliage.

Now I have my eye on another fall perennial that’s all over Pinterest and Facebook. It may be hard to find, even though it is a native plant. There are about 50 species of Lespedeza, including perennials, annuals, and shrubs. The one I’m on the lookout for is Lespedeza thunbergii ‘Gibraltar,’ also known as pink bush clover. A semi-woody shrub, the branches arch fountain like with pendulous pink flowers. Enjoy these lateflowering plants now before they’re finished by frost and overwhelmed by the more familiar colours of fall.

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