5 Fantastic Fall Plant Combinations for Late Season Gardens

Combinations for Late Season Gardens

Discover amazing plant pairings that will end the growing season with a bangFall is pure magic at Swift River Farm, a private ranch in Petersham, Massachusetts. A range of gardens including woodland, a more formal area with hedges and stonework, an alpine setting and a sweeping meadow combine to c reate this dynamic space. These different areas lend themselves to unique plant palettes and designs, but still work together as a unit. While the place sparkles during the growing season, the cool nights of autumn bring a spectacular beauty. As the foliage in beds and borders begins to change, it echoes the changing colors of the New England hills in the distance, while fall-blooming plants bloom. Looking for new and interesting additions and digging up plants and moving them around has helped create wonderful combinations that prioritize complementary and contrasting colors, textures and patterns. Fall doesn't have to be a quiet time in the garden if you design attractive vignettes that extend your garden's interest well into winter.

1. Muted primary colors shine amid vertical structures

These tones of browns, reds, yellows and blues create a vibrant fall scene. The deep crimson leaves of 'Dark Towers' Penstemon form horizontal lances that play against the bright blue radial discs of late-blooming 'October Skies' fragrant aster flowers. The strongly upright fuzzy seed heads of white culver's root and the flat-topped spikes of patrinia add structure to the display. The pale-blonde 'Karl Forster' feather reed grass makes a bright vertical accent. Who needs a hedge when this scene is so beautifully set against the lush backdrop of mature woodland?

2. Extend the view with layers of height

In this part of the meadow garden, the muscular form, burgundy stems and rugged flowers of 'Madrona' sedum stand out against the yellow-green fibrous leaf bluestar, which has feathery foliage. The purple coneflower's dark seed heads provide further contrast. A towering shrub-like New York ironweed in the background, its purple flowers produce dark, beaded seed heads that give this plant great texture. The pinkish-purple flowers of the New England aster echo the 'Matrona' sedum below. Different plant layers create depth and add contrast to this small space.

3. Finely textured plants look bolder

Threadleaf bluestar is one of the most striking deciduous plants, with its truly unique color and beautiful form; It beautifies anything that grows near it. At this point in autumn, its chartreuse color has deepened to golden. Its vertical neighbor, the Russian sage, stands sharp next to it, though its flowers have faded to a soft gray-blue. Both plants shine against the rusty background of 'Henry Eilers' Sweet Coneflower. A subtle arrangement of three perennials ties this planting together.

4. Leaves variegated in bright yellow and green

Even after those cheery spring flowers are long gone, the woodland garden carries through the summer and fall with impressive foliage. Here the green fronds of the ostrich fern contrast with the bright yellow 'Montana aureomarginata' hosta fronds. The lush pale green 'French Braid' Epimedium stands out against the deep greens of Hellebore, Meadow Geranium and 'Jack Frost' Prunera. The jagged foliage of hellebore with the bipinnate leaves of painted fern creates interesting patterns and textures against the medallion-shaped leaves of 'Marissi' doublefile viburnum. Feel the gloom of the season in this vignette.

5. Create swaths of color with sprawling perennials

This native mountain mint glows mint green against the cranberry red of tall Coreopsis and its yellow-ocher seed heads. Both plants have lanceolate leaves, giving them a similar shape. These perennials grow quickly and take up little space, making them a great choice for competing with less desirable plants. They have long seasons of interest; Mountain mint flowers fade into seed heads almost unnoticed, and the brilliant late-season color of tall coreopsis is echoed by trees on distant hillsides that are summer and winter.