Gardening Judith Adam The gardening season is winding down to a close, but it’s not over yet. Autumn garden beds often have a vacant appearance, with only a few remaining flowers and tattered plant debris waiting for the final cleanup. Extending the floral display with a few clusters of autumn-blooming plants is a good way to keep the garden in business right up to the first nights of light frost. But with energies focused on getting things in order before your departure – cleaning the beds and raking leaves – autumn perennials need to be perfectly behaved and entirely self-sufficient if they want a place in late-season gardens. Two daisy-form plants meet all of the criteria for no-fuss bright display late into the fall season. Rudbeckia Autumn Sun (Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’ Autumn Sun, hardy to zone 3) is a long-blooming perennial with large, drooping, chrome-yellow petals and tall gold-brown centres. The many forms of rudbeckia are sometimes known as Brown-eyed Susans, and this one has large flowers on five-foot tall stems that are stiff enough not to need staking. The flowers begin blooming in late summer and, when grown with at least a half-day of sun and regular watering, they’ll last well into autumn. ‘Autumn Sun’ is a serious butterfly magnet and you’ll enjoy frequent visits from late-season monarchs and red admirals. A good companion for Autumn Sun rudbeckias is the Michaelmas daisy ‘Peter III’ (Aster novi-beIgii ‘Peter III’, hardy to zone 5). This late-blooming aster is a strong hybrid, lasting much longer in flower than other Michaelmas daisies, standing on sturdy four-foot stems with no support needed. A clump of ‘Peter III’ becomes a mass of small lavender-blue flowers shining through frosty morning mist; they will continue up to hard frost. A colour sibling is ‘Mari III’, identical in every respect with bright-pink flowers along every stem. Rudbeckia Autumn Sun andMichaelmas daisy ‘Peter III’ require only regular watering to keep their flowers fresh and tall stems standing all through the autumn weeks. The reward from these strong autumn perennials is a late-season garden that continues to show floral display right up to hard frost. The air is cooling, the first leaves are colouring and travellers are beginning to think of winter destinations. But there’s still work to be done putting the garden to bed and a few fall-blooming perennials are always welcome. If you’re investing in spring tulip and narcissus bulbs, you’ll appreciate a smart tip on how to get the best return for your money. Autumn perennials that shine until hard frost Rudbeckia Autumn Sun 52 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx