These Colorful Annuals Bloom in the Fall

My garden is spectacular right now—people stop in the street and marvel at it. This time next month, it’ll look like total crap.

Once the zinnias die, and the trellises come down, and there are no sunflowers arcing into the sky or passionflower vines climbing the house, my garden grows dreary and monotone. Like many people, I’ve made the mistake of getting high on summer color. (Evergreen? Never met her.)

This year, I’m taking a new tact. Rather than wait six long months for my next hit of sweet garden candy, I’m investing heavily into colorful winter annuals. (Your garden center will have all of these plants when it’s time for them to go in, but you still have a chance to grow the flowers yourself if you plant out a tray in the next few days.)

Evergreen shrubs will keep things green

I relented and littered my hellstrips with evergreen huckleberries, winterberry, and blueberry. Evergreen shrubs will hold onto their leaves until the most extreme weather hits, providing a nice pop of greenery. I chose evergreen clematis to climb a long wall, and I’ve gone in hard on red clover for ground cover.

Snapdragons bloom again in fall

It was a terrible year for my snapdragons, which are an early spring bloom. However, I always forget that as summer reverses itself into fall, snaps make a welcome reappearance. Next year I will ensure I plant them everywhere to fill in that late summer/early fall color gap.

Violas (aka pansies)

If you’ve only seen violas in the nursery, you’ve likely seen them in the same tired purple, blue, and yellow hues. It turns out, violas come in a wild range of colors, and I have about a hundred and fifty plugs growing right now in shades of mulberry, pink, orange, and yellow. These delicate looking low liars think nothing of a cold snap, and can last well into winter, depending on your climate. They’ll survive a frost, or even a hard freeze, but their staying power isn’t infinite. If it’s a long enough cold, they’ll lose their blooms, but even then, the plant can stge a comeback.

Flowering kale

I loathe kale; I say its name like a swear word. However, flowering kale, which is never meant to be eaten, but just stared at? I love it. Flowering kale laughs in the face of darkness and freezing rain. Grown in duos and trios, they can fill in a space well. While they’re always going to be primarily green, the centers come in a dazzling range of white, red, and pink.