As the weather becomes cooler and the leaves begin to change color, don’t put your gardening tools into hibernation just yet! Here are some best plants to keep your garden vibrant throughout the fall season:
Mums
Few plants can turn up the color in fall like garden mums. These autumn favorites ignite a landscape with a blaze of bright petals. In containers, plant garden mums as long as they’re available for sale. If you want garden mums to survive winter in the ground, get them planted as early in the season as possible.
Pansies
Nothing adds color to fall settings like perky pansies. Pick up your favorite hues at a local garden center. Pansies hold their own in containers or planting beds. Look for trailing pansies for urns and hanging baskets. Violas resemble miniature pansies and suit smaller pots. Use tighter plant spacing for pansies because growth will be slow in cooler temperatures. If you want a full look in a container, you need to plant pansies closer.
Flowering Kale
Flowering cabbage and kale bring bright hues to the autumn landscape. These eye-catching plants combine beautifully with sweet alyssum, viola, nemesia and garden mums. Best of all, flowering cabbage and kale stand up to temps as low as 5°F and light snows.
‘Coral Charm’ Peony
Fall is the best time to plant peonies, and specialist growers ship bareroot tubers at this time. The trick with peonies is not to plant them too deeply. Just cover tubers with soil 2 inches deep. If you want to transplant existing peonies, fall is the time to do it.
For more gardening tips and inspiration visit: http://www.hgtv.com/design/topics/fall-gardening