Kinghorn Gardens

The Fall Color Palette

August 28th, 2009

As the hot days of summer fade into the cool, fresh days of autumn, I look forward to the coming changes in the landscape.  The vast colors of summer bloomers fade and their showy seed heads begin to change the texture of the garden.  Plants which were once a green backdrop to the flowering stars of summer, now punctuate the horizon with vibrant hues of yellow, red, orange and purple.  Traditionally, it is the large trees: oaks, maples and ashes, which are thought of when it comes to fall color.  Unfortunately, most of us don’t have room for too many shade trees in our gardens.  Luckily, there is a large palette of shrubs and herbaceous plants we can use to extend the colors of fall to our own smaller gardens.

Here are some of my favorites for fall color:

Orange:

• Amelanchier grandifolia (Serviceberry)
• Acer pseudosieboldiana (Korean Maple)
• Acer saccarum (Sugar Maple)
• Berberis thunbergii (Barberry)
• Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ (Diane Witchhazel)
• Acer ginnala (Amur Maple)
• Celastrus scandens (Bittersweet)
• Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’ (Tiger Eyes Sumac)

Red:

• Aronia melanocarpa elata  (Black Chokeberry)
• Rhus copallina var. latifolia ‘Morton’ (Prairie Flame Sumac)
• Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ (Shenandoah Switchgrass)
• Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
• Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea)
• Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’ (Henry’s Garnet Sweetspire)
• Bergenia cordifolia (Pigsqueak)
• Viburnum prunifolium (Blackhaw Viburnum)

Yellow:

• Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet)
• Callicarpa japonica (Beauty Berry)
• Ilex verticilata (Frontier Elm)
• Aesculus parvifolia (Bottlebrush Buckeye)
• Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress)
• Viburnum dentatum ‘Christom’ (Blue Muffin Viburnum)
• Gingko biloba (Gingko)
• Gymnocladus dioica (Kentucky Coffeetree)
• Hamamelis vernalis (Vernal Witchhazel)

Purple:

• Ceratostigma plumbaganoides (Plumbago)
• Callicarpa japonica (Beauty Berry)
• Ulmus ‘Frontier’ (Frontier Elm)
• Eragrostis trichodes (Sand Love Grass)

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