Plants with fall and winter interest

Fall Highlights: Celebrating Late Bloomers in the Garden

Already the light is fading and the cold is setting in. Soon the garden will be covered by a thick blanket of snow. It’s only after many long months of this regime that it can be reborn in spring with its soft, comforting colors. Gardeners are well aware of this familiar cycle, and it’s during this dormant period that they invariably re-plan their gardens, bent over their drawing board or immersed in their horticultural reading. To help you restructure your flowerbeds, we offer you a humble selection of plants with high autumnal ornamental potential, which we hope will enrich your horticultural reflections throughout the winter. Autumn-blooming plants are very often the subject of horticultural articles, and for good reason: in addition to prolonging the garden season, these plants represent an invaluable treasure for our pollinators. In the course of our trials, we’ve selected a few specimens from this precious plant heritage, including the classics, the must-haves, the intriguing and the annuals.

The Classics

  • Wolfsbane – Aconitum sp.
  • Stonecrops – Sedum sp.
  • Japanese anemone –Eriocapitella hupehensis syn. Anemone hupehensis
  • Black cohosh – Actaea racemosa
  • New England aster – Symphyotrichum novae-angliae syn. Aster novae-angliae
  • Great masterwort –Astrantia major
  • Corsican violet –Viola corsica
  • Panicled hydrangea – Hydrangea paniculata
Japanese anemone, a timeless autumn classic. Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Horticulturists know this queen of autumn well: New England astere. Available from garden centers everywhere. Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Corsican violet, a violet that flowers until the first snow. It’s easier and cheaper to buy seed. Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault

The Essentials

Grasses of all kinds! Autumn in the garden is also a festival of grasses. With their feathery, often colorful inflorescences, they add unique volumes and textures to the garden. In beds or on their own, they soften volumes and make the melody of flowerbeds more fluid.

Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault

The Contenders

  • Rocky Mountain blazing star –Liatris ligulistylis
  • Giant ironweed –Vernonia gigantea
  • Pale Indian plantain – Arnoglossum atriplicifolium syn. Cacalia atriplicifolia
  • Hairy mountain mint – Pycnanthemum verticillatum var. pilosum syn. Pycnanthemum pilosum
  • Autumn crocus – Colchicum autumnale
  • Purple beautyberry – Calicarpa dichotoma
Giant ironweed, a giant that offers its precious nectar very late in the season. A structural plant for your landscape. A real favorite! Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Autumn crocus, a magnificent autumn crocus with brilliant blooms. Corms are available in autumn from garden centers.Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Hairy mountain mint. Not only will its foliage and minty fragrance seduce you, but its long, late flowering season will delight pollinators. It’s also the perennial of the year 2025.! Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Would you like to watch monarch butterflies foraging in your garden? Rocky Mountain blazing star is sure to provide them with a good meal before their great migratory journey. It’s THE monarch plant. In our opinion, an under-used perennial! You can find seeds on the Internet.Photo: Marco Duplessis

The Power of Annuals

Finally, we can’t overlook the importance of certain annuals, which will last until the first frosts and sometimes even the first snows. Their last breath will also be that of a bee’s last feast before wintering, or a hummingbird’s last meal before its long journey.

  • Brassica – Brassica sp.
  • Florist’s daisy – Chrysanthemum × morifolium syn. C. x grandiflorum
  • Purpletop vervain –Verbena bonariensis
  • Common lantana – Lantana camara
  • Amaranth – Amaranthus sp.
  • Woolflowers – Celosia sp.
  • and many others…
Here, Lacinato kale and Florist’s daisy form a fiery duo to rekindle the flame of potted arrangements. Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault
Amaranth offers several cultivars with particularly textured and colorful inflorescences. Photo: Mathieu Gaudreault

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Chantal Gauthier and Mathieu Gaudreault are both horticulturists and teachers at the Centre de formation Fierbourg in Quebec City, in the Horticultural Production and Horticulture and Garden Center programs. Passionate about the plant world, they enthusiastically scour botanical gardens, parks, forests and horticultural events, always on the lookout for inspiring finds. Their infectious passion is passed on not only to their students, but also to those around them, earning them the nickname Plant geeks.

1 comment on “Fall Highlights: Celebrating Late Bloomers in the Garden

  1. Peaceful Waters

    I was looking for photos of the Black Cohosh, a useful herb I used in the past but haven’t seen as a plant.

    Places to purchase these plants would be of great interest.

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