Fall garden still has colour
Care for plants that still flower Hostas, day lilies, lamium work well
It’s so considerate of day lilies and hostas to add colour to the fall garden. Right now their leaves are turning a very respectable yellow, adding warmth to the lower layers of the garden. So a pat on the back to day lilies — they punch out of the ground in the spring and cover over the ratty foliage of ripening tulips. Hostas, of course, snuggle over the shady acres of the garden, keeping the dim zones from becoming a snooze fest.
It’s prudent to take stock in the fall of the plants that keep on giving.
Take, for instance, the undertheradar Verbena bonariensis. This self- seeding annual is still blooming smugly in gardens, and looking first- rate. The purple flowers bloom on top of strong wiry stems, and now that I think of it, might look smashing intermixed with the equally lanky Japanese anemone, another late bloomer for the fall garden.
Also making my checklist is the ground cover called lamium. We planted it in the dry shade of a neighbourhood right-of-way, and in jig time it filled in awkward spaces and now looks especially cheery on pale November days.
It’s easy to love the gardens that hold tight to the last flaming colours of the fall.
I spied just such a garden in one of the older sections of Hamilton. It was a small space. Each corner was anchored by a Pee Gee hydrangea, glowing like the embers of a fading fire. They were in perfect scale with the house size and the garden, and stood out nicely against the neutral, putty- coloured brick. A serviceberry tree ( amelanchier) was planted off to the side, and showing fall colour reminiscent of apricot jam.
At the front, marigolds and asters bunched up against the sidewalk. In July marigolds can make you feel sweaty, in November they make you feel toasty.
Respectable- looking rocks traversed the garden. They looked like you could walk on them, or even sit on them and do some mindless weeding. A blousy patch of perennial fountain grass added motion to the midsection of the garden, and a block of variegated dogwood shook up the otherwise, straight green foliage palette. Interesting to note, it was the only plant with variegated leaves. Sometimes less is more and too many two- toned plants give a case of vertigo to observers.
Ditto with the evergreens: Use too many and the garden looks glum and petrified. In this design, a few dwarf conifers carried out the mission.
At the corner of the house a generous- sized pot was bursting with mums, making a much bigger impact than an anemic arrangement of midget containers. And the restrained brick facade of the house was nicely enhanced by handsome trelliswork painted a crisp, always stylish black. So even in a small garden, it’s possible to have it all — fall colour, winter interest, texture, layers, natural stone and fine accent pieces. It’s a garden for all seasons, big enough for big ideas, but small enough for mindful maintenance. Kathy Renwald is producer and host of Gardener’s Journal. Email her at gardenersjournal@sympatico.ca