Fall Jewels

Colchicums are truly magical plants and easily mistaken for Crocus.  The bulb sends up foliage in the spring which soon dies back to the ground.  In the fall, delicate flowers emerge while the bulb is in a dormant state.  These bulbs are available through this catalog.

One of my favorite annuals is a variety of Celosia called 'New Look'.  It adds interest to the garden from spring to the first frost with its intensely colored scarlet plumes and bronze-red foliage.  Plant height is 10"-14" and prefers full sun to part shade.

The perfect little border plant called Liriope or Lily Turf provides a wonderful texture to the garden with its fountainous, grass-like foliage.  You will be rewarded with an extra bonus in the fall as it produces multitudes of blue-spiked flowers.  Liriope is not the least bit fussy and will prosper in shade or sun with much neglect.  Just remember to trim away the foliage in March prior to the new shoots appearing.

The Spider flower is also known as Cleome.  It's an annual that is quite showy and always calls for attention.  Once you have seeded your garden with this annual, you will be rewarded for years to come with it's children!  It's a wonderful backdrop plant and works well with grasses in full sun.  Be sure to cut off spent blooms for a longer flowering period.

What could be more pleasing than a perennial called 'Autumn Joy'?  It's in the sedum family and therefore drought-tolerant and quite easy to grow.  This is a perfect "filler" plant that produces a lovely bloom from August to November.  It grows to 2'  but may be tip pruned to 6"-8" for a more compact plant however this will delay flowering.  If you enjoy having butterflies in your garden, this is the plant to add.  Requires full sun.