autumn 2016 | top 5 unique flowers for autumn color

September 07, 2016

top 5

unique flowers

for autumn color

by Victoria Coyne of Victoria Gardens

Too often, gardeners fall into predictable routines and rely on mums alone for fall blooms. We believe gardening is a creative and exploratory pursuit, but trying a new and exotic-looking plant can often feel like a big risk. You want something that is unique and colorful, but you also want a reliable perennial that will thrive in our climate and bloom year after year.

1. WINDFLOWER

ANEMONE JAPONICA ZONES 5-8

Fall-blooming windflowers have pink or white, single-cupped blooms. The flowers move in the breeze above the foliage on wiry stems that are three-to-five feet tall. One plant will spread nicely in a few years. This plant prefers a moist, shady situation and makes a lovely combination planted with ferns; however, it is not deer resistant.

2. HARDY AGERATUM

EUPATORIUM COELESTINUM
ZONES 4-9

This is a very old-fashioned perennial with fuzzy, blue flowers. In September, ageratum makes a lovely and long-lasting cut flower. This plant naturalizes, especially in moist soil—wet meadows, pond-side, or drainage ditches—so give it a large space to grow. It prefers full sun but can tolerate light shade, and it grows two-to-three feet tall.

3. BLUE MILKWEED

AMSONIA HUBRICHTII
ZONES 4-9

This is a large, shrub-like perennial that blooms in May with a pale, star-shaped blue flower; however, the real show starts when the feathery, blue-green, thread-leaf foliage turns golden brown in the autumn. It is very reliable, grows three feet tall and three feet wide, and deer leave it alone.

4. SEVEN SONS FLOWER

HEPTACODIUM MICONIOIDES
ZONES 5-9

This plant matures to be a large, multi-stem shrub—or small tree, depending on your perspective—with peeling bark. White, jasmine-like flowers bloom in late summer, but the real show happens once those flowers fall off. In September, the sepal (the flower structure that remains) turns to a vibrant red and looks like it is blooming all over again! This one thrives in full sun to part shade and grows 12 to 15 feet tall.

5. TOAD LILY

TRICYRTIS
ZONES 5-9

Another unique and very exotic looking plant, toad lily has small orchid-like flowers with spots and speckles on the petals. Toad lily is an easy-to-grow and shade-loving perennial, but it is unfortunately not deer resistant. It grows one-to-three feet tall and is available in many varieties—start a collection!

VICTORIA GARDENS

1 Cottekill Road, Rosendale
845-658-9007 victoriagardens.biz

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