Great Garden Combinations for Fall

These six combination strategies help end the season with a bang

I do it the sun and all the bright , glorious colors of summertime in my garden . So when the cool evenings begin in the Pacific Northwest , I get a certain sinking feeling feeling . I cognize that the rain is not far away and that it wo n’t be long before I am doomed to look out my window at a dark and dripping garden .

But I ’m not one to give up easily . fall does not ask to be a season where a garden bit by bit loses interest as plants slip into quiescence . Rather than treating fall color as an reconsideration or a happy chance event , I deliberately design combination and vignettes that will have my garden bursting with interest well past our first frost . Though these combination apex in the fall , they are anything but dull during other seasons . And the unspoilt part about them is that the principles that manoeuver the designs are adaptable to all climates and condition .

Use dramatic forms where you seek attention

Plants with a striking , architectural form cultivate wonderfully in areas that get a lot of attention , such as near a front doorway . ‘ Rainbow Warrior ’ New Zealand flax is a plant certain to make the great unwashed notice . Since this spiky flora get out the oculus up , the combination needed something that would elegantly hold the compounding to the background . I chose a perfect colour match in ‘ Apricot ’ chrysanthemum , whose footling explosion spread the attention in all instruction . The subdued gray of the Elaeagnus commutata calms the combination down and keeps it from being too busy . The Jupiter’s beard and the genus Euonymus also insure interest in other seasons . The perfect backcloth to this scene is the ticklish , ever - changing fall foliage of a laceleaf Nipponese maple .

1 . ‘ Rainbow Warrior ’ New Zealand flax ( Phormium‘Rainbow Warrior ’ , USDA Hardiness Zones 8–10)2 . ‘ Apricot ’ chrysanthemum ( Chrysanthemum‘Apricot ’ , Z 5–9)3 . Euonymus ( Euonymus fortunei‘Emerald ’ n Gold ’ , Z 5–9)4 . Silverbush ( Convolvulus cneorum , Z 8–11)5 . Laceleaf Japanese maple ( Acer palmatumvar.dissectum , Z 6–8 )

Take advantage of fading foliage

Fall colour is often the termination of leaves turn over before they drop , a welfare all enjoy but few utilisation to their benefit . The always - attractive ‘ Madame Emile Mouillère ’ hydrangea adds a glorious touch of rosy bolshy to its leafage in autumn . Rather than wonder in this ravisher by itself , I enhance the seasonal gift with flora that complement the color and material body of the hydrangea . This shrub and the sedum below it offer flush heads that work a large mass . The crimson tinges in the hydrangea flower only beef up the connexion between the plants . A Japanese forest grass constitute at the feet of the elegant hydrangea will reverberate the color and shape of the soft icteric venous blood vessel in the bush ’s foliage . As the color of these plant go on to change and fade in late fall , the whole combination takes on new dimensions .

1 . ‘ Madame Emile Mouillère ’ hydrangea ( Hydrangea macrophylla‘Madame Emile Mouillère ’ , Z 6–9)2 . ‘ Autumn Joy ’ sedum ( Sedum‘Autumn Joy ’ , Z 3–11 )

Let softer hues connect strong colors

decline is a season when colors can develop more vivid . This characteristic is most often an plus , but now and then it can become a liability . Throughout most of the yr , the yellow - edged border of ‘ Golden Ring ’ Nipponese barberry connect its potent Bourgogne foliage to the equally strong - colorful ‘ halcyon Mop ’ false cypress tree , resulting in a double-dyed duet . But in autumn , the barberry ’s amber band pass off aside , leaving the two plants disconnect instead of matched . To fix this berth — and produce a large compounding — I added the silvern foliage of ‘ Sunshine ’ genus Senecio , which helps strengthen down the strong colouring material all year long . In tumble , the sedum ’s mild blood-red flowers also avail the state of affairs while complement the dark shrub behind it .

1 . ‘ Golden Ring ’ Nipponese barberry ( Berberis thunbergii‘Golden Ring ’ , Z 5–8)2 . ‘ Golden Mop ’ false cypress ( Chamaecyparis pisifera‘Golden swob ’ , Z 4–8)3 . ‘ Sunshine ’ senecio ( Senecio greyi‘Sunshine ’ , syn . BrachyglottisDunedin Hybrids ‘ Sunshine ’ , Z 9–10)4 . ‘ Autumn Joy ’ sedum ( Sedum‘Autumn Joy ’ , Z 3–11 )

Blend textures to add excitement

portmanteau word of texture create excitation in any time of year . The skinny bloom of ‘ Firetail ’ persicaria have the diffused texture in this group , but their tidy sum and movement produce enough interest to contain their own against the drama queen of the combining : Ruby Star purple coneflower . The swelled carmine flowers of trusty ‘ Autumn Joy ’ sedum connect the color of the sheer coneflower to the wispy persicaria . The lemon lily-livered blooms of ‘ Moonraker ’ Cape fuchsia sum a spark that set off the combining ’s color palette . The final touch is a euphorbia , whose soft tone and ok grain hold everything together .

1 . ‘ Firetail ’ persicaria ( Persicaria amplexicaulis‘Firetail ’ , Z 3–8)2 . Ruby Star over-embellished coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea‘Rubinstern ’ , Z 3–9)3 . ‘ Autumn Joy ’ sedum ( Sedum‘Autumn Joy ’ , Z 3–11)4 . ‘ Moonraker ’ Cape fuchsia ( Phygelius × rectus‘Moonraker ’ , omega 8 - 9)5 . Euphorbia ( Euphorbia characiassubsp.wulfenii , Z 7–10 )

Create an impact with masses of fine texture

Soft textures and insidious colors cater a necessary transition between bolder colors in the mete , but there is no reason why they ca n’t be eye - get too . echo these texture and gloss or establish them in good deal is a marvelous mode to create concordance and menses in a garden . Single plantings often look like polka dots , leave in a interfering composition that loses a sense of harmony in the border .

In this combination , a orotund belt of blue oat grass attracts the middle with its blessing and crusade . Its smooth blades counterpoint in grain but match the shape of the intricate spikes of ‘ Corbett ’s red-faced ’ broom and ‘ Pagei ’ hebe , both planted in masses . A large clustering of starburst - shaped New York asters stand out against the upward thrust of the other plants .

1 . downhearted oat grass ( Helictotrichon sempervirens , Z 4–9)2 . ‘ Corbett ’s Red ’ heather ( Calluna vulgaris‘Corbett ’s Red ’ , Z 5–7)3 . ‘ Hopleys ’ oregano ( Origanum laevigatum‘Hopleys ’ , Z 7–10)4 . New York aster ( Aster novi - belgii‘Professor Anton Kippenberg ’ , Z 4–8)5 . ‘ Pagei ’ hebe ( Hebe pinguifolia‘Pagei ’ , Z 8–10)6 . Euphorbia ( Euphorbia characiasssp.wulfenii , Z 7–10)7 . Artemisia ( Artemisia stelleriana‘Silver Brocade ’ , Z 3–7)8 . ‘ Vera Jamson ’ sedum ( Sedum‘Vera Jamson ’ , Z 4–9 )

Make use of plants that always look good

One of my preferred plants , no matter of the time of year , is Japanese sedge . Its soft yellow and unripened blades provide mounds of movement and spots of light throughout my garden .

In fall , I play off this grasslike perennial ’s attributes by supply the bright but soft - shaded blooms of ‘ Oregon Sunset ’ crimson flag and ‘ Mönch ’ aster . This combining reminds me of the heroic finale of a fireworks video display with skyrocket ( the sedge ) bequeath shiny , flimsy trails behind colorful bursts . If the gardening season has to end ( or at least slow down ) , it might as well do it with a bang .

1 . Japanese sedge ( Carex morrowiicv . , Z 5–9)2 . ‘ Mönch ’ aster ( Aster × frikartii‘Mönch ’ , Z 5–8)3 . ‘ Oregon Sunset ’ crimson flag ( Schizostylis coccinea‘Oregon Sunset ’ , Z 7–9 )

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