How Does Your Garden Grow?

From Tired to Terrific

Barbara Lindholm

DeKalb County Master Gardener

Fall seems to be the time our gardens and our over all landscapes just begin to look tired. As gardeners, we are also getting tired from an active season of caring for our plants.

Time for an attitude adjustment! Fall can be a time of rebirth and renewed interest in our gardens. The heat, humidity, and mosquitoes are over for the year. It is a time to enjoy the fall flowers and grasses and to marvel at the brilliant, final burst of color from shrubs and trees. With some advance planning, your fall landscape can change from tired to totally terrific.

As colors change, there seems to be an almost magical quality about the arrival of autumn. In truth, intensity and variations of color are not magical but dependent on the weather. Sunny days and cool nights produce the best color. While early, hard frost, rainy and cloudy weather can turn leaves prematurely brown.

As photosynthesis and green color producing chlorophyll processes slow down, less seen colors such as yellow, orange and red begin to dominate and give us our fall palette of colors.

Many of the annual plants will disappear as the cooler weather arrives. However, many annuals will thrive on the lower temperatures. Pansies, violas, larkspur, sweet peas and snapdragons seem to bloom profusely during September and early October.

Perennial plants are usually better equipped to deal with the changing weather. Mums, fall sedums, Grapeleaf and Japanese anemones and helenium produce their best flowering in the fall. Pinch back mums, asters, and sedums every couple of weeks during the growing season until the middle of July.

Ornamental grasses are attractive in all seasons but put on their best show in the fall. They provide dramatic fall and winter interest. Little Bluestem turns orange. Switch Grass changes from green to burgundy, and Miscanthus foliage becomes golden with beautiful white plumes.

Although we often purchase shrubs for their spring bloom, there are several shrubs that can provide spectacular autumn color. Burning Bush and Oakleaf hydrangeas turn red and burgundy. Orange can be seen as the Highbush Cranberry presents its fall color. The most variety of colors is available in the witchhazel bush which can be yellow, red, or purple depending on the variety.

Many fall shrubs are grown for the interest provided by their berries. Vibrant purple beautyberry, orange colored firethorn and bittersweet, and red cranberry all have beautiful berries to be enjoyed in the fall and on into the winter season.

Of all the plants in our landscape, trees deserve to be recognized the most for their dazzling display of fall color.

Maples are the workhorse tree when it comes to providing great fall color. Full Moon maples and Sugar maples produce striking orange foliage. The Japanese maple has varieties that offer blood red, flame orange, and harvest gold color options. Japanese maples can be difficult to grow in our area. For the best success, supply these trees with a part sun/part shade exposure with protection from drying winds.

Other color choices include Sweet Gum for red foliage and Purple-leaf Sandcherry and Flowering Dogwood for burgundy.

Of special interest are the fall, bright yellow leaves of the gingko tree. At an appointed time, known only to the tree, every leaf will fall off the tree simultaneously over a period of a few hours. It is amazing to watch.

The fact that your garden areas may look a little tired this year doesn't mean that you can't plan for a more spectacular fall display next year. Try incorporating some of the flowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees mentioned in this article. Take your fall landscape from tired to totally terrific.

This will be the last "How Does Your Garden Grow?" column for this gardening season. Enjoy your winter and make some great plans for your 2008 gardens. Watch for our new series of articles starting next April.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, home gardening or about the Master Gardener program, call the Master Gardeners, c/o University of Illinois Extension, DeKalb County office, at 815-758-8194 or email dekalb_mg.uiuc.edu.