Coordinating Fall Mums, Grasses, and More in Your Landscape

It’s just around the corner—the season of all things pumpkin spice and sweater weather! Early fall is the ideal time to reassess our gardens and consider adding new plantings while the soil is still warm and the temperatures are mild. Let’s get our landscape ready for fall by coordinating mums, perennial grasses, asters, and the like, into our landscape now. Here are our top seven plant picks to pair into your fall landscape for a pop of color that will last until the snow flies.

Chrysanthemums 

Ah, the ultimate fall classic! Mums are ideal for container planting and offer the possibility of a perennial show if planted in-ground early enough. It seems there is an endless supply of cultivars, with the most common ones boasting blooms in fall jewel tones of golden yellow, blazing orange, deep purple, and ravishing red. 

Mums love the cool temperatures of fall, but if you want to treat them as the delicate perennial that they are, then it’s best to plant them in-ground in late spring or early summer. Their root systems are shallow and offer a better chance of surviving harsh winters when given as much time to establish as possible. Simply pinch the leggy stems until mid-July, and then get ready for a fall show of color. If you’re worried it’s too late to establish them in the garden, we say cover them well with mulch and go for it anyway—maybe winter will be mild this year? If not, bet on the safe side and include some in your fall container plantings.

Ornamental Kale and Cabbage

While not edible, ornamental kale and cabbage remain one of the most popular autumn garden and container plantings. The crisp blue-green leaves with bright pink centers put on a fabulous fall show. We can’t think of a tougher plant! Their brute but beautiful foliage can withstand temperatures as low as 5ºF! It can often last through milder winters! Pair them with mum plantings for the ideal mix of fall foliage and flowers.

Pansies 

Pansies are not just annuals for spring! They pair beautifully with your fall landscape plants—and they can tolerate frost! An ideal choice for fall planters, pansies also can be used to fill in garden spaces that are beginning to fade, adding a pop of color to a tired garden after a long summer. 

Ornamental Grasses 

There is nothing more versatile and beginner-friendly than ornamental grasses—and they are anything but boring! The texture and color contrast of ornamental grasses are eye-catching enough to stand alone in planters or pair well when used as ‘thrillers’ with pansy and mum plants. Many come in surprising shades of deep purple, silvery-white, or vibrant green, offering interest until the snow flies—and with vast perennial and annual options, you can’t go wrong adding them into your fall garden.

Ornamental Peppers

The shape of these easy-care peppers reminds us of Christmas bulbs with their bright fruits in clusters of red, orange, yellow, and purple. While attractive, they are not edible. Pair sun-loving ornamental peppers in a planter with pansies and ornamental grass for a stunning fall feature, or plant them along garden borders for an eye-popping palette.

Asters

Here’s a tongue twister—asters are a perfect purple perennial to pair with your fall garden plants (say that three times!). As our summer blooms fade, asters are just getting ready to put on a lovely fall show. Their lavender or white blooms are happy in cooler weather, but prefer 4-6 hours of sun per day. Plant them in containers or add them to rock gardens for a pollinator-friendly cottage appeal.

Gardening doesn’t have to come to an end as fall approaches. Come visit us at Blooms Greenhouse to pair fall plants into your landscape today! Prefer something simpler? We have plenty of planter recipes and instant fall containers all ready to take home today!