COLOUR RUSH
Who says gardens need to die down when summer fades? This pick of the late-blooming bunch guarantee autumn colour and are sure to be seen at RHS Chelsea this month
Autumn inspiration from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
ONE-POT WONDERS
Small Japanese maples in shades of copper are the classic choice for autumn containers, but you can display all of the season’s glorious hues in just one pot by planting several heucheras. These leafy perennials range in shades from lime green and butter yellow through to amber and burgundy, and have ruffled foliage that resembles falling leaves. In spring, plant them out individually in the border, where they will add rich colour splashes all year round.
BERRY GOOD
Fancy a supply of fresh berries to sprinkle on your breakfast muesli? Grab a few canes of autumn-fruiting raspberries, currently starring at your nearest garden centre. They’re a breeze to grow: just cut the canes down after fruiting and the fresh growth will produce next year’s berries. Three great choices: ‘Autumn Bliss’,
‘Joan J’ and ‘Autumn Amber’, a golden variety that produces berries until November.
SINGING THE BLUES
Balance autumn’s fiery colours with two compact, cool-blue-flowered deciduous shrubs that are magnets for bees and butterflies seeking late-season nectar. Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Dark Knight’ has silver-green leaves and fuzzy, soft blue flowers. If there’s no room in the border, admire it in a container. Ceratostigma willmottianum has deep lavender-blue flowers on wiry stems and rich russet leaves in autumn.
KEEP CROPPING VEG
Responding to the growing demand for fruit and veg, Brighter Blooms nursery will be forsaking its usual award-winning calla lilies at Chelsea to show which salad crops can be grown in small spaces. Nursery owner Matthew’s pick of the crop for late sowing: spicy baby leaf oriental salad leaf mix; baby leaf pak choi colour crunch mix; mustard ‘Red Dragon’ and wild rocket. You can order seeds at growvegandfruit.co.uk.
ADAM’S CHOICE FOR FIRECRACKER FOLIAGE
‘Euonymus alatus ‘Blade Runner’ is a slow-growing shrub with beautiful autumn colour that I have in my gravel garden,’ says Gardeners’ World and RHS Chelsea Flower Show TV presenter Adam Frost. ‘As its leaves drop, it reveals wonderful curly “wings” on the stems. And aronia melanocarpa ‘Autumn Magic’ is a great all-rounder. I grow it as a multi-stem: it’s a great structural plant.’
BEST FOR BEES AND BUTTERFLIES
Hylotelephium (formerly sedum) ‘Herbstfreude’ is a valuable source of late nectar, and its succulent milky-green leaves and large, flat pink flower heads that look richer as autumn progresses make it a front-of-border seasonal star. Team it with the tall blue stems of perovskia (Russian sage) for a striking contrast.
JOE’S TOP TREE FOR AUTUMN COLOUR: GO FOR GINKGO!
‘The autumn colour on a ginkgo biloba is fabulous,’ enthuses Gardeners’ World and Chelsea Flower Show presenter Joe Swift. ‘The fresh green, scallop-shaped leaves turn a glorious, golden yellow, and hold light beautifully. Don’t rake them up immediately as they look a picture on the ground, too. Ginkgos get quite big but stay slender, so are useful for blocking windows. In Japan, they’re planted as street trees because they cope well with pollution, and are often cut back hard to an even more slender form. They’re one of the oldest tree species, dating back around 290m years!’
SWISH AND SWAY
‘Grasses are great – they sway and rustle in the wind, slow you down as you brush past them, and bring a natural, relaxing feel to any space,’ says Naomi Ferrett-cohen, who has designed the NHS Tribute Garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea. She is interplanting autumn-flowering perennials, such as agastache, asters and persicaria, among majestic stipa gigantea, pheasant’s tail grass and green-and-yellow carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’. If you’ve never grown grasses before, start out with one easy-care variety that will get you hooked: stipa tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’ has tactile, silvery plumes that grow ever more extravagant as the season progresses. Plant them here and there in the border for instant atmosphere. To maintain? Just comb through with your fingers in early spring to remove dead foliage.
LATE BLOOMERS: THE SHOWSTOPPERS
Penstemons, with their foxglove-like flowers and long blooming season from early summer to late autumn, are justifiable cottage-garden favourites. Julia Mitchell of RHS Chelsea exhibitor Greenjjam, who will be showcasing more than 50 penstemons, suggests these three standout performers: purple ‘Blackbird’, which grows to 4ft; large-flowered ‘Laura’ (right); and lilac and white ‘Czar’.
The attractive flowers of salvias, together with their unfussy nature and ability to bloom brightly right through until autumn, make them great border choices. Red-and-white ‘Hot Lips’ is the most popular, but other types, in violets, hot pinks and blues, are electrifying. See three gorgeous new varieties, among many other salvia stunners, at the Middleton Nurseries RHS Chelsea exhibit: ‘Amigo’, with sage-scented purple flowers; ‘Amino’, which has intense cobalt flowers on navy stems; and ‘Blue Butterflies’ (left), with arrow-shaped royal blue flowers. No autumn border is complete without a dahlia or seven. They’re easy to grow from tubers in spring – the tough part is deciding which of the many varieties to choose. Rob Evans of Pheasant Acre Plants is bringing more than 100 different dahlias to RHS Chelsea, including new varieties ‘Mystic Sparkler’ (right), a flamboyant single variety with deep bronze foliage, and ‘Jowey Frambo’, which is ideal for cutting. For shades of autumn, Rob suggests deep apricot waterlily dahlia ‘Nicholas’ and orange pom-pom ‘Cornel Brons’.
RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
With this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show moving from May to September, there will be a major shift in the kinds of plants on display there. ‘Expect to see zingy colour from the word go,’ enthuses Carol Klein. ‘The last few Chelseas have been extremely green, but now we’ll see the opposite end of the spectrum, with brilliant yellows, oranges and reds from prairie plants, and hot Mexican colours from sunflowers, salvias and dahlias. Ornamental grasses will hold centre stage and I’m expecting to see every kind of Michaelmas daisy imaginable.’ The show runs from 21 to 26 September.
CAROL’S PICK OF THE PRAIRIES
‘Many early autumn favourites come from the American prairies and reflect the season in rich, earthy hues,’ says Carol Klein, who presents Great British Gardens and RHS Chelsea.
‘Echinaceas used to be just purple or white; now there’s an ever-widening range of orange, rust and crimson types; new ‘Summer Cocktail’ mixes the lot!’
‘Michaelmas daisies are sure to be on show at Chelsea. Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’ is my winner, or for months of flowers, go for aster x frikartii ‘Mönch’.
‘The best rudbeckia is golden-yellow R. fulgida var. deamii. For something more fiery, try ‘Rustic Dwarfs’ or ‘Cherry Brandy’, which does exactly what it says on the bottle!’ Find a range of prairie perennials at sussexprairies.co.uk.