Black Mondo Grass with hardy succulents

Are your summer planters in need of a fall makeover?  Are you thinking you would rather invest in perennials than toss away non hardy plants at season’s end? There are many fall-flavored hardy plants which will provide you with texture, form and long lasting colorful foliage. Plants to consider include Ornamental Grasses, Ophiopogon, Succulents, Heuchera, Euphorbias, Ivies, Dwarf Evergreens, to name a few.

Heuchera ‘Caramel’ with Orange Sedge, Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow, and Purple Tradescantia

• Here are a few tips.
• 1. To achieve a fuller affect, use more plants than you would in the spring or early summer.  We don’t want to think about this now, but the days have been getting shorter, nights cooler, and plant growth is slowing down or ceasing.
• 2. Select plants that have a variety of tones that will contrast and set off each other, (think amber Heuchera and black Ophiopogon).
• 3. Remember a pot of mums looks fresh for 3-4 weeks at most, then the show is over. Showy foliage will carry on and on.
• 4. Note that the fall foliage on evergreen Sempervivum (hens and chicks), Sedum ‘Angelina’, and Sedum album cultivars change and develop more dramatic color once the temperatures stay cool.
• 5. If you must have flower power, consider long and late blooming Salvia, Cuphea, or fall pansies.
• 6. When a night time temperature drop is forecasted, have light blankets, large pots or even an empty trash barrel handy to cover your container and protect the plantings from frost.
• 7. As November passes, the time will come to  disassemble your planter. Tuck your hardy plants in a nursery bed or empty space in your vegetable garden plot to hold them over until next spring.

Cuphea ‘David Verity’ with Heuchera ‘Champagne’ and Oxalis