Good morning from the garden!

This morning I thought I’d take you around for a little fall tour of my garden.

Even though I know my perennials are on the decline and will soon be dying back to the ground, I still think this is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the garden.

Fall can be pretty fleeting here in Minnesota, so you have to be sure to get out and appreciate it while it lasts.  In the blink of an eye the leaves will fall and then everything will be covered in a blanket of snow.

My Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea and Tiger Eye sumac both provide glorious color in the fall.

If you are looking for a shrub to plant for fall color, the Tiger Eye is a fantastic choice.

Of course, paniculata hydrangeas are also a great choice for providing fall color.

The Vanilla Strawberry turn a deep pink, while the Limelights are a little more subtle, but still pretty.

But don’t forget that it isn’t just trees and shrubs that provide good fall color.  I have some perennials that develop fall color too, including the Oenothera biennis, or the common evening-primrose.

The foliage turns a lovely red for fall.  My friend Jodie gave me a chunk of this plant years ago and it has taken off in my garden.  It can be considered invasive, but I find it easy to pull it out when it pops up where I don’t want it.  In the summer it provides a swath of cheerful yellow blooms that are quite pretty.

Another source of good fall color from a perennial that may surprise you is the hosta.

They don’t all turn color for fall, but I recommend searching out one of the varieties that does and putting a couple in your garden for fall.

Unfortunately, that being said, I can’t find a single source online that lists which hostas provide good fall color.  If you can find a list, or you know of a specific hosta with good fall color, please leave a comment and let us all know.

A general rule of thumb for the hostas in my garden is that the ones that aren’t variegated seem to get the most vibrant color in fall.

I had initially not planned on doing a fall display in my front window box.  I’m heading off to visit my mom in another week and by the time I come home from that, it will nearly be time to do a winter arrangement.

But then I stopped off at Home Depot and I couldn’t resist the mums and some huge ornamental kale.

The summer annuals in the front window box were really looking tired, so I was itching to pull them out.

There was one exception, and that’s the fuchsias that I planted on either end.

They were still looking so good I just couldn’t bear pulling them out yet.

So I based my color scheme on keeping them in place, and I’m rather happy with how that turned out even though these aren’t your typical fall colors.

I used some purple mums, and a gorgeous deep purple ornamental kale called Scarletbor.

That color also plays off the color of the Northern Exposure heuchera that I have in the ground just below the window box.

I filled in the background with flowers cut from my various hydrangea bushes, and I pulled some ivy out of my other summer planters to use in the window box.  The ivy will handle a bit of cold, and I recently read that the fuchsias can also tolerate temps in the 30’s.  So I think these will do OK for the next month or so.

I flipped my Flower Market sign back over to the Farmers Market side for fall too.

The green is a little more muted on this side, and somehow Farmers Market always says fall to me.

We’ve put away the patio dining set for winter, but we opted to keep the Adirondack chairs out until the snow flies.

It’s nice to have a spot to sit and enjoy our morning coffee while we still can.

I have one last spot in the fall garden to share with you this morning …

The fairy garden is decked out for Halloween.

OK, I hope you enjoyed this fall tour of my garden.  Now be sure to get out and enjoy those fall colors in your garden this morning!