I need to add fall perennials to my garden. Any Ideas???

[ChristyM]

My son is getting married in late september. We will have his fiance's relatives coming in from beautiful New Zealand and Holland. My yard is beautiful in the spring ( my favorite season) but I have nothing for the fall. I think I am zone 7, NC and SC borders. I am in the woods with alot of shade, clay and deer. I would love to have my yard looking beautiful for the big event. There's no way to compete with NZ and Holland . Any suggestions??

[bullthistle]

Saffron & mums would be a good start and thin out your trees.

[hendi_alex]

The trees make it tough. If you have enough light pineapple sage is a great fall bloomer. Large mounds of green or yellow gold, depending upon the variety, and red blooms. My rudbeckia is lovely and booms late summer. Can't remember if it is still going in September or not. Once again, needs a good bit of sun. Good luck!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Woodland Aster (used to be A. divaricatus but some plant scientist with nothing better to do changed it to Eurybia divaracata to mess with me ). A native wildflower that just screams bridal bouquet. It's cousin Another once upon a time Aster, Blue woods aster (A. cordifolius (now Symphyotrichum cordifolium) will also take a great deal of shade and give you a blue flower in a taller plant and both are native to your area, so plant with impunity, I have seen deer nibble them a little but never decimated, and they are both prime nectar plants for skippers and swallowtails. They are likely to naturalize, especially the woodland aster, and you will have blooms to remember the day for the rest of your life (I did hundreds of these plants for a friends wedding once, and still think of them as wedding flowers).

[rainbowgardener]

not asking for much are you? Shade, deer, late september... even early september would be easier to still have things blooming. But here's some thoughts: chelone (turtlehead) is a beautiful native fall-blooming perennial. Likes part shade and lots of moisture. (Some one already suggested thinning your trees some, would probably really help, dense shade is pretty limiting.) Culver's root (aka Bowman's root) is another native fall blooming perennial for part shade. It has nice flower spikes and butterflies like it, but it's slow to establish and might not bloom this year, planted now. Obedient plant (physostegia) is another native August - into fall blooming perennial, very pretty, very adaptable re sun /shade (maybe too much, can spread readily). Bees like it and supposedly it's "deer resistant." Sedum is a nice fall plant for shade. Flowers aren't very showy, but you can get it in lots of different foliage colors. There are some native sedums (stonecrop). Goldenrod is a gorgeous fall bloomer. It is really a sun lover, but pretty adaptable, I've seen it growing places you wouldn't expect. And being in shade should help keep it from taking over. I planted some in sun and had to rip it all out because it was taking over my yard. For non-natives toadlily (tricyrtis) and Japanese anemone would be good choices for fall bloomers. Good luck!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Grasses would be nice and would certainly make the NZ contingent feel at home; many of our woodland Carexes would look lovely mixed with the asters...Panicums would work with just a little more light (limbing up) and ferns would certainly look great; hayscented fern is another naturalizing wonder that would mix withthe rest of these

Turtlehead is a good native but likes it damper, and my Culvers roots are mostly seedheads by September and I'm cooler (great bird feeder though). The native sedums are mostly creeper crawlers, but actually take more shade than 'Autumn Joy" or many of the other non native varieties. RG's Japanese introductions are lovely fall garden inclusions; perhaps closer to the house? But if you want to show off America to the new in-laws, you can show off our plants and garden style (that blends with the surrounding environs) as well. We have nothing to be ashamed of in American garden style and plants; it is us who gives them short shrift. Look how many native cultivars have German names; the rest of the world likes our wildflowers more than we do!

Familiarity breeds contempt...

HG

[ChristyM]

Wow! Thanks for all the great ideas! We do have about a 6000 square foot front yard with about four groups of trees. The woods are all around the perimeter of the yard so the flowers do get some sun. I put in alot of impatients every year ( I don't know why I keep doing this as the deer eat them) I thought the impatients might survive til the end of Sept. but I can't remember how long they last. I have had success with aster. Golden rod grows wild very where that would be a good idea. I will look into some of the other suggestions. I have a whole woods full of beautiful fern. Every year I transplant more into the yard. The deer don't seem to like them.

[GardenLisa]

I find that perennials like Hosta, Solomon's Seal, even Sweet Woodruff for the foliage are beautiful in the shade. Spiderwort might be nice too...

[ChristyM]

I've not heard of any of those except the Hosta. I have Hostas. Unfortunately the deer like them. It's interesting that they won't come near my pond. I think they are afraid of the water fall. I have Hostas planted around it and they won't touch them or the inpatients I have planted there. They have eaten all my hostas and impatients in other areas of my yard.