Fall Color

Here in zone 7, the mid-atlantic states, Delaware in particular, there are many plants available to give you great color through the early, mid and late season.

Annuals: Ornamental cabbage, kale will last through most of the winter. Pansies, too. In fact the pansy will grow and bloom during even our most harsh winters. They come back even larger in the spring. The heat of summer, withers them, but no fear. It's time for petunias by then.

Perennials: Goldenrod, asters and mums add floral color to the autumn garden with purples, pinks and many wonderful earth tones. While mums and goldenrod (and NO you are NOT allergic to it. It is NOT wind pollinated.) do not rebloom, aster will if deadheaded. Deadheading is the act of removing spent blossoms to encourage new blooms.

Shrubs: While the ever popular nandina firepower and burning bush give excellent fall color, they can be invasive when they escape the garden. Many native plants give just as much color while protecting the environment. Native plants use less fertilizer, are more tolerant of the local ebb and flow of rain fall and are resistant to many of the local bug population. Colorful native shrubs include...viburnums, with beautiful white flowers, fall color and berries for the birds...Silky dogwoods, or red twig dogwoods come alive once their leaves are gone with vibrant red twigs I use to decorate holiday urns. Chokeberry, fothergilla, and the beloved high bush blueberry are also among my favorite shrubs for fall color and berry. The blueberry has four seasons of interest: spring flowers, summer berries (yummy), crimson fall color and peeling bark for winter. This is a win/win shrub that you can keep to whatever height you choose.

Whatever plants you choose for your garden and or landscape, make sure you include food for wildlife. Here on Delmarva, with the developpement so intense, our animal population has little space anymore. Do yourself and the Earth a favor and plant for the future and plant for everyone.