Late Flowering Perennials

Nothing is bleaker than seeing your garden fade in October. When autumn foliage colour, leaf drop and the hint of frost on your lawn early in the morning show signs of winter.

However, there are these lovely plants that still shine through the darkness of seasonal change. Try some in your garden:

Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' - Chocolate Joe Pie Weed

Tricyrtus hirta - Toad Lily

Nipponanthemum nipponicum - Nippon Daisy

Anemone x hybrida "Honorine Jobert" - autumn flowering Anemone

Actea racemosa "Hillside Black Beauty" -  This spliced photo is necessary to get the full spectrum of our Bugbane. Its spring foliage bears the name 'black beauty' - more than rest of the season. Fern-like, bronze foliage - really wonderful texture in May. Greening up in summer, it resembles an Astilbe. But just when you think it has given up any chance of flowering, in mid August the flower buds emerge and take ages to show any sign of blooming. Come late September, you get the first glimpse of these fabulous white bottle-brush blooms. Quite frost tolerant and will flower well into November in shade. (This plant gets evening sun.)

Perennial Late Bloomers

Aside from the ordinary Chrysanthemum and Sedum - here are a few of my favourite perennial "late bloomers" that give flower in the midst of late autumn - tolerating light frosts and cooler day-time temperatures.

Eupatorium rugosum "Chocolate"

Eupatorium rugosum "Chocolate" (Chocolate Boneset Joe Pie Weed) found here in my garden - is one of my fav's. Its white flowers just brighten my shaded fence-line. Growing in a fair amount of shade, it's "chocolate" foliage is more bronze than burgundy - it's hard not to notice its lovely white wispy flowers contrasting against deep bronze leaves when most perennials are starting to go dormant.

Nipponanthemum nipponicum

Nipponanthemum nipponicum (Nippon Daisy) rounds the autumn off with an extraordinary daisy display. Its dense foliage and habit acts much like a shrub. Standing 3 to 4 feet in height, it commands attention. Foliage is sturdy, and evergreen in a sense - tolerating several frosts before it begins to wilt. In the winter, its foliage turns a bronze-brown and is considered an evergreen in warmer zonal areas. Flowers have a 3-4 inch span. Buds are sometimes an inch in diameter.

Tricyrtus hirta

 

 

Tricyrtus hirta (Toad Lily): part of the Lily family, but resembling an orchid, the Toad Lily's step ladder leaves and stems stay unnoticed until late September, when flower buds emerge. Standing near 3 feet when about to bloom, it's a great addition to the perennial border.

Anemone hupehensis var. japonica

Anemone hupehensis var. japonica (Japanese Anemone) This has to be my ultimate favourite. It's been in flower since late August and keeps going. Holding its flower stems above deep green, mounding foliage. Great as a cut flower. I love how it hints of white snowy days coming down the pike. Love, love, love!