Autumn is a wonderful season! All the different hues of nature can be witnessed in the trees around! Flowers give out heady fragrances, and there is generally an atmosphere of magic all around! This season is therefore a boon for garden lovers, since there are any number of plants which are created just for fall flower gardening!
Some features of fall flower gardening are listed below–
(1) Why fall flower gardening at all? These magnificent plants give a new look to the landscape around the house. The gardener gets immense pleasure from what he/she has created. And best of all, one is surrounded by intoxicating perfumes!
(2) Fall season stretches to a few months. So when is the best time to begin fall flower gardening? People who live in highly warm climates are lucky! The (annual) flowers can be planted during autumn itself. Additionally, they even grow and bloom in the same season; so the owner can enjoy everything at one and the same time!
Those dwelling in places with colder climates will have to plant the flowers before fall, and wait to enjoy their color and fragrance during the autumn.
(3) In actual fact, there is no standard answer to the above question–it is just a matter of guesswork. Every year, there could be a different time period that seems appropriate for fall flower gardening. All that an avid gardener can do is wait till the opportunity presents itself, and then grab it!
To illustrate with an example, a mild summer may be followed by a period of rainfall. This occurs somewhere towards the end of August. This then would be an ideal time for growing flowers. In other areas, September would seem to be the ideal month for growing flowers.
(4) There is another choice available–an entirely new flower garden can be started just before autumn.
When the summer season comes to an end, local garden centers offer those plants which could not be sold during the spring season, at discounted rates. Unless there are pests on these plants, they can be safely taken home and brought back to good health via container gardening. Once the weather turns cooler, the same plants can be transplanted into the outdoor garden.
(5) Fall flower gardening can include annual plants as well as perennials. Annual flowers are tender and may survive for a briefer period than perennial flowers. Perennial plants are sturdier and able to tolerate early frost–so their flowers can be enjoyed for a lengthier period of time.
(6) With a little research, the gardener can obtain plants that grow late blossoms, but generally before the arrival of the first frost. These flowers are actually planted during the summer; so, it is possible that excess foliage will need to be trimmed during fall season. This is done by pruning or staking. A disadvantage is that pruning leads to late blooming.
(7) Fall flowering garden can include plants that grow vegetables too. Some of them are peppers, cabbage and kales. As a matter of fact, ornamental peppers exhibit wonderfully colored flowers and fruits. Thus, enjoy them and taste them too!
(8) Some popular flowering plants are–perennial asters that blossom every fall, year after year, and pansies; pansies bloom during the fall, winter and spring seasons.
(9) Some exotic and colorful additions to the garden can be attempted if the gardener so desires. These could be–reddish-purple love-lies-bleeding flowers, pinkish-purple mums, and New England asters.
(10) There are other blooms that can really be breathtaking in appearance! They are therefore welcome additions to the flower garden.
Nasturtiums (give out orange and yellow flowers).
Silver king artemisia.
Reddish-purple plumed celosia.
Bronze coleus.
Marigold (give out yellow, gold and orange flowers).
(11) Perennial plants come in a vast range. The gardener can take his pick from among sunflowers, aconite, yellow wax bells, phlox, autumn crocus, tall verbena, golden rod, Russian sage, black-eyed susan or the ragged coneflower.
(12) To enhance the fall flower gardening experience, the gardener can visualize the difference that vines, shrubs and ornamental grasses will create when invited to become part of the already vivid panorama!
Abhishek is an avid Gardening enthusiast and he has got some great Gardening Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 57 Pages Ebook, “Your Garden – Neighbor’s Envy, Owner’s Pride!” from his website http://www.Gardening-Master.com/762/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.