The crisp days of autumn offer an ideal time for planning and planting the garden.
While the successes and failures of the season just past are still fresh in mind, the gardener can correct his mistakes in color combinations and placement of plants, at the same time adding new flowers and improving the overall garden effect.
Except in the colder parts of the country, fall is a good time to set out the majority of perennials. Plants that take root now are well established by the time summer temperatures arrive and are less apt to dry out.
Planting the flower garden in autumn also gives the gardener a head start on the many spring tasks. Then too, it is only in fall that most of the bulbs can be planted.
Good Design Landscape
Good design is as important in the individual flower border as in the landscape as a whole.
We have all seen gardens planted without any particular thought as to the result—perennials placed singly here and there, wherever space was available at the moment, regardless of color and time of bloom. The effect is spotty and ineffective.
It’s a far better idea to go out into the garden with pencil and paper in hand and make a rough plan of the beds as they are or as you would like them to be, noting the dimensions. Then, you can “plant” these beds on paper, marking the positions of plants to be set out.
Whenever flowering plants are used together, it is important to consider the date of bloom and the flower color of each plant.
Foliage and plant form also contribute to the total effect and should be harmonious.
Separation of Color in Garden Scheme
Unity and a pleasant separation of color in the garden scheme can be achieved by locating plants of the same kind in clumps and repeating these clumps at intervals throughout the garden.
A workable way to accomplish this is to mark on your plan the different months of the season, ensuring that each month is adequately represented in the various parts of the garden.
Next, make a list of plants that flower during these months and insert by each month your choices for that specific time.
The number of plants to use in a grouping depends upon the garden size —if it is a small one, three or four of a kind in each clump will be enough.
The maximum amount of bloom can be bud by leaving some space for annuals. Tulips can be planted in these areas for early color.
When placing the taller growing plants in the back part of the border and the lower ones in the front, remember the importance of breaking the “skyline.”
In other words, different kinds of plants with varied heights should be used in both the foreground and the background.
In a small garden, limiting one’s choice of plants to a few varieties is preferable. Too many different kinds make a confused, unsatisfactory composition.
Accent the corners in the back parts of the beds with taller plants, such as foxgloves, hardy larkspur, or Thermopsis, and for later effect, hollyhocks or dahlias.
If the garden is large, more dominant evergreen plants are sometimes required, for example, hemlock or yew (Taxus media hicksi). Both of these need to be kept compact and within bounds with pruning.
Combining Plants
Although most flower colors combine well outdoors, some are difficult to use. Magenta is not a good mixer; red, if used, should be worked in near white, yellow or blue. And, while in the garden is the grand harmonizer and admirably brings out the other colors’ beauty.
Here are a few suggestions for combining plants. You may come across others in the gardens of friends.
- Clumps of tulips with bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)
- Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
- Phlox divaricata laphami
- Pansies (Viola tricolor hortensis)
- Leopard bane (doronicum)
- Columbine (aquilegia) makes a lovely effect.
They may be followed by:
- Iris
- Peonies
- Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale)
- Foxgloves (digitalis)
- Sweet william (Dianthus barbatus) are also important additions at this time.
- Hardy larkspur (delphinium)
- Madonna lilies (Lilium candidum)
- Spiraea (astilbe)
- Phlox (MISS LINGARD) appears before the month is over and continues to give color for some time.
The summer-flowering Phlox decussata gives a wonderful display in July and August. Balloon flowers (platycodon), speedwell (Veronica), loosestrife (Lythrum), and Japanese iris (I. kaempferi) provide interesting variety.
September and October are full of bloom with hardy ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum), monkshood (aconitum), chrysanthemums, and hardy asters.
Varieties To Buy
Just what varieties to buy is the next question. Of the many on the market, the plants below deserve special mention.
Some of the best strains are the following:
- GIANT SPURRED columbine
- Leopard bane Mme. MASON
- Sweet William Newport pink and white
A few of the many bearded irises are:
- CALIFORNIA GOLD
- SLEEPY HOLLOW
- GREAT LAKES
- GOLDEN TREASURE
- BLUE PETER
- CAESAR’S BROTHER and PERRY’S BLUE varieties of Iris sibirica bloom early and are attractive on the border.
Peonies and Oriental Poppies
- WALTER FAWN is an outstanding peony
- LE CYGNE
- MARIE CROUSSE
- MONS. JULES ELIE.
For a splash of color, plant Oriental poppies, choosing the following:
- Pink SUPER-WUNDERKIND
- GLOWING ROSE
- CURTIS GIANT SALMON PINK
- PERRY’S WHITE is one of the best, but white poppies are not as hardy as the other colors in northern gardens.
An inhabitant of old-fashioned gardens, foxgloves still hold sway in the gardens of today in the improved GIANT SHIRLEY HYBRIDS.
The handsome flower spikes of the GIANT PACIFIC HYBRID larkspur cannot be surpassed.
Buds of the balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorum, open to a soft shade of blue or white in June and July. This plant is well suited to the back of the border.
The lower-growing Platycodon grandiflorum MARIES takes its place in the front of the bed.
Summer Phlox
A garden would seem incomplete without the summer phlox.
- SIR JOHN FALSTAFF is a noteworthy newer introduction to this valuable group of plants;
- MARY LOUISE
- PURPLE HEART
- RHEINLANDER
- PROGRESS, is some of the best on the market
The showy flower heads of Astilbe GLORIA SUPERDA and PEACH BLOSSOM are excellent. Every garden should have plenty of blue, and Speedwell (Veronica) does its part in filling this need. BLUE CHAMPION is a newcomer in this family and blooms early in summer.
The older species are also of value:
- Veronica spicata
- V. maritima subsessilis (V. longifolia subsessilis)
MORDEN’S PINK loosestrife combines well with the new DROPMORE PURPLE introduction.
Japanese Iris
The Japanese iris (I. kaempferi) produces beautiful flowers in July with graceful foliage.
- MOUNT HOOD
- GOLD BOUND
- PINK PEARL
- BLUE GIANT, are a few good selections
Daylilies
The daylily is effective at almost any season and is one of the sturdiest of the garden aristocrats. Hybridizers have succeeded in creating several different shades and countless varieties, so by making a careful selection, the blooms can be enjoyed From May to September.
Chrysanthemums
- MRS. PIERRE S. DUPONT III
- BETTY
- BURGUNDY
- KING MIDAS
- MRS. MERLE AVERILL will bloom into late autumn
- PLENTY
- PROSPERITY
- FRIKARTI
The lower-growing hardy asters, such as PACIFIC AMARANTH and COUNTESS OF DUDLEY are excellent in the foreground of the border.
If a partially shaded location presents a problem, choose Aconitum fischeri and A. fischeri wilsoni for autumn color.
Among the annuals that are especially floriferous until the end of the season are:
- Zinnias
- Petunias
- Marigolds (African and French)
- Snapdragons
- Verbenas
- Ageratum
Tulip Planting in Fall
Tulip planting time is at hand in the fall. These bulbs are the backbone of the early garden, their gay flowers bringing a mass of color long before most plants begin to bloom.
Single-flowered early varieties are the following:
- DIADEM
- DIANA
- MME. GEVERS blend well with the double early tulips
- MURILLE
- TEAROSE
- SCHOONOOD
You cannot expect a good bloom from the early tulips for over two years, but the later tulips will be satisfactory for three years. After that time, the flowers become fewer and smaller in size.
There is a wide range of colors in the late-blooming tulips. Some of the best in purple and lavender are to following:
- BLUE PARROT
- GEORGES GRAPPE
- NEW HOPE
- DORY OVERALL
ROSY WINGS heads the list of pink tulips; other exceptionally lovely ones are:
- ADORABLE
- PRIDE OF ZWANENBURG
- GEORGE H. HICKS
- SALMON TRIUMPH
Yellow is well represented in:
- JANE ALDRED
- TREASURE ISLAND
- AUTUMN SUNLIGHT
- HELEN GAHACAN
Some of the outstanding white varieties:
- WHITE TRIUMPHATER
- BLIZZARD
- GLACIER
44659 by Dorothy M-P Cloud