Dahlia

Five autumn drama queens

Make the most of nature’s party plants and plant some colour and vibrancy for autumn.

It might be mid-October but the garden theatre is not over yet. There are a few garden drama queens that keep performing; some right up to the first frosts. Take a trip out to some open gardens or even the garden centre and choose one or two to transform a planter and keep the display going. Here are five late season flowers that are still blooming and could bring some vibrancy to your garden. Or make a note of what to grow, sow and plant for next year and create a living firework display in your border. It will probably cost less than a box of fireworks and last a lot longer.

Pink princess perfection

There’s something really charming about the candyfloss pink flowers of the Bowden lilies (Nerine bowdenii). They throw up stems of multiple flowers in the autumn after a summer of total inaction. The lily-like flowers are spectacular and can sometimes create surprise as it’s easy to forget where you planted them. There are several strains, mostly pink but some pale pink and white. Plant them in spring for an autumn treat, they truly are pink princesses for pots and planters.

Nerine
Nerine bowdenii. Image: Jean Vernon

Flower border drama queens

If there’s one plant that lights up the autumn garden, it’s the dahlia (main image). The flamboyant flowers are so variable and funky in a huge palette of colours and a wide choice of flower shapes. They make fabulous cut flowers, are great for large planters and bring the flower border alive until the first frosts. Dahlias are addictive and once you are hooked there is no limit to the colours, combinations and flamboyancy of these amazing plants. Dahlias aren’t reliably hardy so they either need serious mulching and mollycoddling or lifting and overwintering somewhere frost free. Some do survive buried deep in the soil but not if your garden gets waterlogged or is subject to extreme temperatures.

Power plants

There are so many gorgeous ornamental sages (Salvias) available, some flowering right into the depths of autumn. Flowers in rich hues of deep purple, magenta pink and even orange red add fireworks to the border long before Guy Fawkes Night. Easy from cuttings, these are plants you can propagate and share widely. Perfect for pollinators too. Many have aromatic foliage adding to their garden value. Look out for the stunning purple Salvia ‘Amistad’ or the stunning rich pink Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’. Some herbaceous salvias are pretty hardy and will safely overwinter, but some are more tender and will need overwintering in a frost-free glasshouse.

Salvia Amistad
Salvia Amistad. Image: Jean Vernon

Giant garden candles

Light up the autumn garden with these tropical looking flowers held on tall stems and enhanced with their huge velvety leaves. Garden cannas are truly giant flower candles standing proud and tall in the borders. They are not fully hardy and though some will survive the winter in a sheltered spot, the rhizomes can freeze in the ground unless well-mulched or lifted and stored for winter. Look out for flamboyant foliage patterns contrasting with the bright coloured flowers in the red, orange and yellow colour spectrum.

Canna
Canna. Image: Jean Vernon

Carpets of colour

When you want a swathe of colour in the autum border look no further than the striking heads of daisy flowers in the asteraceae family. These garden stalwarts are a breath of fresh air and a splash of colour in late summer into autumn, providing valuable pollen and nectar to our pollinating friends. There’s been a little bit of name changing going on, so you might find some of them listed as Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England asters) and Symphyotrichum novi-belgii (New York asters). But most places will call them asters. There is a huge variety of heights and types, but if it’s to bring colur to the flower border then look for the perennial asters such as ‘Monch’ or New England aster ‘Marina Wolkonsky’ – I love the purple petals and orange centres of this one.

Purple Asters
Purple Asters. Image: Jean Vernon
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