Flowers To Plant in the Fall

This year I wanted to refresh our flowers after a long summer. Our yard was full of summer blooms this year; wild roses, peonies, honeysuckle, lavender and rhododendrons. After the colorful summer, I felt like our yard needed a little something extra as we entered the cooler fall weather. Quite a few plants and flowers are ideal for planting in the fall to give your home and lawn a little more color.

We enhanced our backyard patio with some pots of colorful mums in red, gold and purple. These mums are easy to plant and offer festive color right away. You can purchase potted plants in full bloom for $5 – $6 and they will last with regular watering up until it snows.

My girls had fun helping to plant these colorful mums. We will enjoy them all fall as we play in the backyard and eat out on the patio. The girls can help me water our plants too!

Teaching kids how to garden and plant flowers is a useful life skill they can learn at a young age. I can also tie in gardening lessons with tips about why it’s important to recycle, be aware of ingredients in our food, and take care of the earth.

We received this fun gift set from Organic Valley that included seeds, some snack samples, and coupons for Organic Valley dairy products. My little helpers in the kitchen love getting mail and learning about how their favorite foods are made!

Organic Valley makes food through a cooperative mission in a way that’s good for people, animals and the planet. 2,000+ small family farmers own the company with a board of directors made up entirely of the farmers. Organic Valley cares most about maximizing what’s best for their food and yours. Everyone wins!

Organic Valley dairy products start with four simple ingredients: sun, grass, soil and rain. They believe that amazing food starts with farming, not gimmicky packaging and hard-to-pronounce ingredients. All the food made at Organic Valley is organic and grown without the use toxic pesticides, synthetic hormones, antibiotics or GMOs. It’s simply delicious.

Check out Organic Valley’s annual sustainable report to learn more about what they are doing to Power the Good.

Sometimes it feels like my girls mostly live off of dairy products. When they aren’t enjoying yogurt and cheese, they love helping me around the house and garden. My oldest daughter especially enjoys watering the flowers and cutting them for bouquets.

Plants and Blooms to Plant in Fall

I was surprised to learn about the variety of plants and flowers you can plant in the fall. Many of these plants are perennials and will come back next year to provide diversity to a garden long after the last summer flower has bloomed. Here are some attractive plants, grasses, and trees to add fall color to your garden.

Garden Mums – classic autumn hues of orange, gold, russet and bronze.
Sumac – brilliant fall foliage and fuzzy red berry clusters.
Beautyberry – bright purple berries, one-of-a-kind fall accent.
Oak Leaf Hydrangea – fiery leaf tints and fading flowers in pink shades.
Pansies – can bounce back from light frosts, making them darling cool-season accent color.

Caryopteris – lavender-hued blooms in late summer and fall.
Russian Sage – drifts of purple atop grey-green leaves.
Goldenrod – bright yellow flowers add color to a late summer garden.
Blue Star Amsonia – textural touch of gold to your planting.
Miscanthus Grass – ornamental grasses.

Blue Fescue – provides motion and texture.
Feather Reed Grass – wheat-colored seeds in fall.
Fountain Grass – soft, bottlebrush-like seed heads.
Morning Light Miscanthus – adopts a reddish hue.
Sugar Maple – terrific fall color in your yard.

Red maple – brings on the color in reds and firey golds.
Japanese maples – unique leaf shape and brilliant color.
Black Gum – foliage in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow.
Gingko – distinctive leaf form that holds a rich gold hue.
Native sassafras – unusual leaf shapes that turn gold, red and purple.

Do you enjoy refreshing your garden for the fall? While many plants are going dormant for the winter, it’s fun to add a pop of color to our garden with fall-friendly mums and pansies for a few more months of natural beauty. After all, fall is the perfect time for planting!