17 Gorgeous Late-Summer & Fall Flowers to Liven Your Landscaping
By: Tessa
Contrary to popular belief, spring and summer don’t get all the fun when it comes to beautiful blooms. With some strategic plant choices, you can have your garden beds flourishing during three out of the four seasons. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite late-summer & fall flowers to liven your landscaping.
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17 Gorgeous Late-Summer & Fall Flowers to Liven Your Landscaping
#1 Create a Wildflower Look with Coneflowers
Coneflowers grace garden beds all across America in the summer. Many of them die off by the time fall comes around, but we’re here to say it doesn’t have to be this way! If you take the time to deadhead them, you can extend the plant’s bloom time into fall. Plus, if your coneflowers are still blooming in fall, they might attract some of the migrating monarchs.
#2 Bright, Tall Sunflowers
Most sunflowers are annuals (with the exception of a few varieties). However, sunflowers are so easy to care for and your neighbors can easily see them from the street. Thanks to their low-maintenance yet lasting-impression, they are one of our favorite late-summer & fall flowers. Sunflowers can grow from 6-10 feet high, so strategically place them in spots that won’t block a window.
#3 Pansies in Perfect Fall Hues
The fall is actually a great time to plant pansies. They are generally considered annuals, but if you plant them in early fall, they can establish their root systems enough to survive a chilly winter. We love pansies for fall because they come in lovely yellows, burnt oranges, and burgundies– Our favorite fall color pallet.
#4 Mums Aren’t Just for Planters
We honestly can’t think of a flower that encompasses late summer and fall quite like mums. Homeowners commonly use mums to add some color to their porch. However, these plants do extremely well in a flower bed, and they are actually tender perennials. If you plant a mum close to your house during summer or early fall, it will come back next year, thanks to warmth from the home’s foundation and an established root system.
#5 Flowering Kale: Pretty and Edible!
Within the past few years, flowering kale has finally started getting the attention it deserves. Gardeners are starting to think of it as a decor element rather than just a vegetable. Flowering kale looks great in both landscaping beds and flower pots. It thrives in cold weather, so it can add a pop of color long after most of your other flowers have died off.
#6 Sweet Alyssum: Fragrant and Lace-Like
If you’re the type of person who loves to fill a flowerbed with fragrant florals, you’ll love sweet alyssum. This plant grows very close to the ground, almost creating a carpet effect. Or, you can plant it in a tall flower pot and a watch it spill over the edges as it grows. Most alyssum varieties start off strong by flowering in the spring, and then they die down a bit when things heat up in the summer. However, they make a swift comeback with blooms in the fall.
#7 Hydrangeas Produce Blooms that Stick Around
Hydrangea bushes add an elegant touch of greenery to your yard even when they aren’t in bloom. Plus, individual blooms last for weeks, and it staggers its flowering throughout the blooming season. If you want to enjoy these flowers in the fall, plant varieties like Tardiva hydrangeas and Limelight hydrangeas.
#8 Colorful and Low-Maintenance Zinnias
Zinnias come in so many different colors, from dark pink to even white. These easy-to-grow annuals can really take off and fill out a flower bed. They start blooming mid-summer and keep producing new buds until the first frost in the fall. Bonus: The more you pick zinnias, the more they make new blooms. So go ahead and fill your home with vases of these sweet flowers!
#9 Celosia: Another Edible Fall Flower
Celosia, wool flower, or cock’s comb–Whatever you want to call it, this plant can add a serious pop of color to your front lawn. Although people in America commonly grow celosia for ornamental purposes, gardeners in Africa plant it primarily as a vegetable. So if you feel like trying something new, you can look up celosia recipes or use it as a decorative garnish.
#10 Keep the Pests Away in Style With Marigolds
Marigolds do more than just look pretty as they flower in late summer and early fall. They are also very useful for keeping mosquitos away. So if you’re a frequent porch dweller, we suggest lining the front of your home with them. With a few citronella candles and enough marigolds, you might not even need to wear any bug spray! As if that isn’t reason enough to plant a dozen, marigolds can also protect your other plants from hungry cabbage worms.
#11 Lavender Doesn’t Just Bloom in June!
Ask most herb enthusiasts when lavender blooms, and they’ll probably tell you late spring or early summer. While they would be correct, lavender also gets a second wind in late summer and early fall. Lavender not only looks great in a flowerbed, but it also looks nice when dried. You can even hang a dried bunch under your shower head for a spa-like experience every day.
#12 Certain Stonecrop Varieties Bloom Later
While the vast majority of stonecrop flowers earlier, Mr. Goodbud, Autumn Joy, and Mastro varieties bloom in August and September. These fast-growing plants love full sun, so keep that in mind when you choose where to plant them in your landscaping plans. Stonecrop loves having room to spread, so plant it anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet away from other plants.
#13 Anemones: One of Our Personal Favorites
Much like us, anemones love crisp, cool weather, which is why they thrive in the spring and fall. You’ll want to plant fall-blooming varieties in the spring, and spring-blooming varieties in the fall. Keep the soil slightly moist to ensure these bulb plants stay happy. Anemones come in so many unique colors, take Panda Anemones for example. These flowers have navy centers with delicate white petals, which will contrast nicely with other fall colors in your landscaping beds.
#14 Spider Lilies Possess a Fitting Look and Name for the Season
Take one glance at a spider lily, and you’ll know where it gets its name from. However, these lilies are also commonly referred to as surprise lilies, because of their sudden and sometimes unexpected appearance in the fall. The foliage on the plant stands at about 18 inches tall, so they can add some medium height to your landscaping bed. You can plant spider lily bulbs in the spring and enjoy them for many years to come since they are a long-lasting perennial.
#15 Black-Eyed Susans Come in Many Varieties
Black-eyed Susans are some of the most versatile late-summer & fall flowers. In fact, this article highlights 43 different varieties of black-eyed Susans. For summer and late fall enjoyment, we especially love the Gloriosa Daisy variety. This flower has almost an ombré effect on its petals with burnt orange and yellow taking center stage. Black-eyed Susans come in both annual and perennial varieties.
#16 Hybrid Tea Roses
Hybrid tea roses are those classic, long-stemmed roses that look great in bouquets. These roses are known for having multiple bloom periods throughout their growing season, which means they often still flower into late summer and early fall before the first frost. These narrow and tall bushes can grow up to 6 feet tall, so we suggest planting them on the far end of your landscaping bed so they won’t block sunlight from entering your windows. These roses come in so many shades of red, pink, and yellow.
#17 Enjoy Four Months of Bloom Time with Dahlias
Although Dahlias are considered annuals in most climate zones, these flowers are well worth the time it takes to plant, thanks to their extended bloom time. Typically, dahlias start showing up around mid-July. They can bloom for as long as four months, classifying them as fall flowers for sure. Dahlias thrive in areas with full sun and well-drained soil.
Overall, your gardening doesn’t have end when the weather begins to cool down. Try some of these late-summer and fall flowers and enjoy color later into the season.
While you’re already giving your landscaping a late summer or fall update, why not take it a step further? Let brick&batten design your home exterior for an ultimate makeover. We provide you with a realistic home rendering complete with a shopping list to make it all come to life.
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