September is an ideal month for innovation in the garden. Fall Mums, Asters, Pansies, fall annuals and spring flowering bulbs arrive to help you rejuvenate your landscape canvas. It is truly a stroke of genius to garden in September. Plants put in the ground have plenty of time to root before winter and will be well established to perform in spring. Peonies, Iris and other perennials can be divided and moved. Tulips, Daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs can be planted. Flowering shrubs and perennials as well as trees establish well when planted this month. Here are some ideas for artistic splashes of color for your landscape that you can invest in now.
• For an artistic stroke to your landscape, plant Allium cristophii or Allium schubertii bulbs. You will be rewarded next spring with stunning unusual splashes of color in dramatic fashion!
The amazing look of Allium
Neighbors taking walks through the neighborhood will be sure to ask what those unusual flowers are!
• For a stroke of color combine sub-zero pansies with spring flowering bulbs planted in September. The pansies are available in a kaleidoscope of colors and will bloom this fall. They will bloom again when the snow clears, in spring the bulbs planted below them will grow through the pansies to flower above them. A bed of bright yellow pansies with purple tulips is an amazing sight in spring. Or blue pansies with yellow daffodils will provide dramatic drifts of color next spring.
Fall planted pansies and Tulips planted in fall will be a treat next spring
• Buy and plant ornamental grasses in September. They provide immediate interest and will establish themselves now for future enjoyment. Most grasses have inflorescence (plumes of “flowers”) in fall and the foliage gives visual interest swaying in the breeze. Hardy and reliable as well as deer resistant they can dramatically change a landscape quickly. Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ is a favorite of mine.
• Plant ornamental kale this month for unusual and interesting color through November. Although it won’t overwinter you will love the enjoyment it will bring you in the fall months. It will tolerate some frosts and even becomes more dramatic after a few cold nights. Plan on it looking great all the way to Thanksgiving Day.
Mum-believable!
• Colorful mums can be planted in containers with colorful stems of willow, dogwood or other branches poked through the soil as vertical interest. After the fall season the chrysanthemums can be planted in the ground for winter, cut back and mulched to return again next spring.
• Henry’s Garnet Itea is a fun flowering shrub with long lasting red fall color. It blooms in summer and puts on a great show in fall year after year. Or try an Oakleaf Hydrangea with its dark red to burgundy foliage on cinnamon colored exfoliating stems. When it comes to flowering shrubs I will always opt for a panicle hydrangea in September with ‘Limelight’ one of my favorites.
These pansies are smiling because its pansy planting season!
September is a wonderful month to experiment in your landscape with great success. The weather is friendly to plants and enjoyable for people to be outside expressing their artistic abilities with plants. Time spent planting this month is simply a stroke of genius.
