Fall-Blooming Flowers for Your Perennial Garden

Autumn crocus bulbs are planted in late summer and bloom the next fall. The flowers appear first, blooming for two to three weeks, and then they die back. The next spring, long leaves will sprout and then disappear as summer heats up.

Autumn Joy Sedum (Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' Autumn Joy) comes as close to perfection as any plant can. It looks good all year, requires minimal maintenance, and attracts few problems. The only drawback of sedum, commonly known as stonecrop

Autumn Phlox is available in various colors and blooms from mid-summer to mid-fall. It grows from two to four feet tall and is clump-forming. Removing faded flower panicles will prolong blooming 

cannas can grow up to eight feet tall and six feet wide. Bengal Tiger cannas have yellow and green striped leaves and an orange bloom. Other varieties are prized for their foliage as well as the range of bloom colors that appear from July to October.

MORE PERENNIALS

Perennials - Plants that persist for many growing seasons. Generally the top portion of the plant dies back each winter and regrows the following spring from the same root system (e.g. Purple Coneflower). Many perennial plants do keep their leaves year round and offer attractive borders and groundcover (e.g. Tickseed, Shasta and Ox-Eyed Daisy). NOTE: WHEN STARTING PERENNIAL PLANTS FROM SEED, BLOOMS WILL BE OBSERVED IN EITHER THE SPRING OR SUMMER OF THE SECOND YEAR AND EACH YEAR THEREAFTER (e.g. Ox-Eyed Daisy planted in the spring of 1996 will not bloom until the spring of 1997).