Fall color for the garden

Easy fall Color for your flower beds

Fall is a great time to add color to your flower beds. Most gardeners know Pansies and Violas as fall bedding, but there is a great selection of other flowers for the fall garden.

Fall flower bed prep:

For flower beds and containers I like to mix in some compost about a week or two before I plant the beds. The compost has a chance to settle into the mix and break down, releasing nutrients to the soil. A good shovel full per square foot should do. For containers about two cups per square foot. Those are just suggestions use as much or little as you want. If you don’t have a composter or access to fresh compost, that’s okay. The bag stuff is good too. Mix equal parts of mushroom compost, cotton burr compost, and composted forest product.

I also mulch all my beds and containers with couple inches of mulch. The mulch will insulate the soil and protect the roots. Mulch will slow evaporation lessening watering chores.

Marigolds:

Marigolds are generally considered a spring and summer flower, but most Marigolds will thrive in the cool fall weather. In a lot of ways the fall and late summer plantings of Marigolds are superior to the earlier plantings. The cool weather produces less stress on the plants, and the flowers last longer with less dead heading. Less stress equals healthier plants that grow faster and bloom earlier. Marigold colors tend to mimic fall colors with strong reds, yellows, and oranges. The smaller marigolds also make nice centerpieces, combo pot additions, and table displays when planted in containers. Of course marigolds are not hardy, and will die at the first hard frost. This won’t be a problem if you have some Pansies on hand to replace them. The picture below is one of my flower beds, the Marigolds are from the Safari series.

Snapdragons:

Snapdragons from seed are a great choice for fall planting. Many seed snaps are cold hardy and will thrive in the cool fall and early winter. Seed snaps also come in a wide variety of sizes and colors to fit your needs. From tall rocket snaps for the back of beds and combos, to small floral carpet snaps to use in borders and containers. Deadhead after every flush of blooms to keep the plants tidy and encourage new blooms.

Vegetative Snapdragons produced from cuttings, tend to be more of a trailing and mounding type. Vegetative snaps are generally hardy, and can be very long lived. I have a Luminaire snap that’s been in the same flower bed for the past 10 years, reliably coming back and blooming every year. Deadhead after every flush of blooms to keep the plants tidy and encourage new blooms. The picture below is from the Luminaire series.

Ornamental Kale:

Ornamental Kale and Cabbage add color and texture to the fall and winter garden. They can grow quite large be sure to check the seed pack or plant label for planting, and spacing recommendations.

Pansies and Violas:

Violas and pansies are the true workhorses of the fall garden. They are hardy, tolerate snow and frost, and provide a great show of color. With thousands of varieties out there, choosing one might prove to be the greatest challenge. My favorite pansy series for the past couple of years is the Matrix series. Matrix pansies are bred to have super root systems giving your plants a strong base. For Violas I really like the Penny series. Penny violas are reliable performers with a great selection of colors and mixes. If you are planning to keep pansies around to change out other less hardy plants, plant the pansies in 4in or larger pots and keep them out doors. When it comes time to change the flower beds the pansies will be acclimated and ready to go. The pictures below are from flower beds in my front yard. The pansies are Matrix mix. The Violas are Pandora’s Box. That’s King Neptune in the corner.

This is part 1. I’ll have part 2 posted in a couple of days.