Autumn borders in your garden should fill you with the delights of the season. Whether you feel sad because summer is over, or you’re looking forward to harvesting pumpkins, autumn should be a celebration.
September, October and November are the autumn months, and to my mind are like the spring months of March, April and May, presenting gardeners with the challenges of very distinct change. What do I mean by this?
Firstly, let us be lyrical. At the beginning of March many of us eulogise over bright yellow daffodils, especially when the early spring sun shines through the bare branches and picks out the petals under a deciduous tree, turning them translucent. In late November, that same tree has provided foliage with a burst of red, yellow and bronze colours. And then dropped its leaves onto the ground beneath. As we rake up the leaves to store and turn into leaf compost, there might be a speck of green peeping through the earth – which might just be the beginnings of a March daffodil.
On the practical side, we begin spring with frosted soil, too cold and hard in which to plant seeds. By the time we reach the end of May we’re picking strawberries. In September we need to wear sunglasses to fully appreciate ornamental borders filled to the brim with bright herbaceous perennials. By the end of November there are just a few damp seedheads remaining, and we wonder whether they’re worth keeping or should they be cut and composted.
My question is: Have you enjoyed that journey through September, October and November in your garden? If the answer is a resounding ‘no’ or only a tentative ‘yes’, then lets see if I can help turn your autumn borders into a resounding ‘yes’ for next autumn.
Autumn Borders – Colourful Planting Ideas – Where to Start
Where can you gather up ideas for your colourful autumn garden?
- Firstly, stand and look at your own garden borders.
- Then jot down a few notes as to what you like and don’t like.
- Take photos of the border or borders as a whole, preferably in early morning, middle of the day and late afternoon, so you can see how the light falls.
- It may be a good idea so check your soil type (clay, chalk, sand) and the pH. This is so you don’t fall in love with plants that won’t thrive in your garden and bring them home!
Now, whether you are just gathering ideas of what you would like to present to a garden designer or planting designer, or whether you plan to create this colourful border yourself, you do need to decide whether –
- the border is to be purely for autumnal interest
- or whether it just needs an autumnal ‘boost’
Related questions, such as will you be emptying all the border plants or just some of them can come in the later planning stages. Here we’re concerned with gathering ideas.
Garden Visits
For gardeners who can take a holiday during school termtime, autumn offers the chance to take a well–earned break away from the crowds. Visiting open gardens during autumn is an excellent opportunity to garner ideas for your own borders. If you can spread out the time of day that you visit, it gives you the opportunity to appreciate the lower light levels and the effect this has on the “look” of the ornamental border.
Garden Ideas from Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Blogs, Books
If you’re a Pinterest person, you could start your own board to add ideas to. You can make it private board or leave it public to inspire others. Sections within boards are a good way to add planting ideas from garden visits, or to keep plant types together.
Did you know that you can follow hashtags as well as people on Instagram? An obvious one would be #autumngardens or #autumncolour
Make use of your local library (book and magazines), Kindle and other apps to browse through even more inspiration for autumn borders.
There are links to some autumnal and planting design Plews’ blogs at the end.
12 Plants for Autumn Borders
To get you started, browse through the following suggestions for plants to fill your garden with colourful autumn borders. Most of these should be garden worthy for you to enjoy right through to the frosts.
Shrubs
Ceratostigma wilmottianum is the 3 foot tall shrub, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is the ground covering version. Both have rich, gentian-blue flowers and foliage which becomes redder as autumn progresses. Red and blue together on the same plant has enabled me to add an individual touch to some planting designs. For example, where one of the clients is a football supporter of certain clubs such as Crystal Palace, Aston Villa or Barcelona.
Cercis canadensis “Eternal Flame”
Winner of Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year 2021, this version of the Judas tree was a fitting choice for the first autumnal RHS Chelsea. Gorgeous colours, heart-shaped leaves and – unless they’ve sold out – available to purchase. (What’s not to like?)
Cotinus coggygria
Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal purple’, also known as the ‘smoke bush or smoke tree. Although deciduous, this bush keeps its red-purple foliage well into October; the leaves are sometimes flecked with shocking pink.
Climbers
Parthenocissus
And as a backdrop to all this floral exuberance, why not have a Parthenocissus? Choose between Parthenocissus quinquefolia, also known as Virginia creeper, with five points to its leaves. Or Parthenocissus tricuspidata, Boston ivy, with three pointed leaves.
Be aware that Parthenocissus quinquefolia is listed in the UK Wildlife & Countryside Act as an invasive non-native species. Whilst this does not prevent it from being sold in the UK, or from being grown in gardens, you should ensure that it doesn’t spread outside your boundary. A good pruning regime should sort that.
However, Parthenocissus tricuspidata is not listed, so you may prefer to grow this climber if you’re buying new. The leaf is not as pretty, but the colour is as good when seen en masse.
Herbaceous perennials
Celtica gigantea
For an architectural dimension Celtica gigantea, synonym Stipa gigantea, is stunning against an autumn sky. Whether you know it by one of its Latin names or the common names of giant feather grass, giant needle grass, or golden oat grass, it makes a glorious addition to autumn borders.
And it offers sound, movement and height, whether you have prairie style planting or the giant feather grass is part of a mixed border. The soft golden colour of its stems and seed heads is a subtle backdrop for brightly coloured herbaceous perennial flowers.
Echinacea purpurea
Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower, Rudbeckia echinacea purpurea, has flat-petalled reddish pink daisy flowers which provide late season nectar, especially for butterflies. This makes it an ideal choice for a mixed autumn border if you want to provide food for pollinators.
Helenium
Heleniums are perennial members of the sunflower family and their charming, daisy-like flowers are guaranteed to bring vibrant colour to the garden from late summer and add depth to an autumn planting scheme. There are plenty of yellow, orange and bronze flowers to choose from, but I particularly like the fact that as the flowers age, the petals curve backwards.
If you have the space, they look impressive planted in drifts through your autumn borders. in smaller gardens plant a decent sized clump instead. Frequently used in prairie style planting schemes, the tall flower stems may blow over in a windy position. Sneaky supports may be necessary in these circumstances.
Hylotelephium
You may also find this listed as Sedum telephium or Orphine. Two to choose from for purple would be ‘Purple Emperor’ (Atropurpureum Group) or ‘Chocolate cherry’ (pictured) This Sedum has flat heads of ruby red flowers and chocolate purple foliage.
The seed heads can be left on over winter; they’re very decorative when silvered with frost. Although it’s a clump forming, the plant does have a tendency to flop because of those heavy flowerheads. Add a support ring as it grows, as that’s more attractive than tying twine around it later.
Japanese Anemone
The classic Japanese anemone, Anemone x hybrida is a stalwart for the shady autumn border. Its single pale pink flowers show up beautifully in low light levels. However, Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ with darker foliage and pure white flowers gets my vote as being a better, and sometimes safer, contrast to the brighter colours of the other flowers.
Tuberous perennials
Cyclamen hederifolium
The autumn flowering Cyclamen thrives in dry shady areas under hedges or trees. If you’re not so keen on the pale pink flowers, there are months of marbled, ivy shaped leaves to enjoy.
Dahlias
There are so many to choose from! Dahlia ‘Ruskin marigold’ is a really solid orange colour. Dahlia ‘Blue wish’ is softer toned. Like all dahlias, if you regularly deadhead, they will keep flowering until the frosts blacken the foliage. There’s a blog link below for more on dahlias, including whether or not you should lift the tubers and store them for next year.
Autumn Borders – more ideas
Hopefully, these planning and plant suggestions for colourful autumn borders in your garden that you can enjoy right through to the frosts, have inspired you. If you need more help with a planting scheme so you can achieve garden borders full of colourful flowers and bright foliage, we’d love to help! Drop us an email if you’d like to know more.
Or perhaps, rather than Plews creating your planting design you would like to learn how to do it yourself? Why not ask about our bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden. We can help you learn gardening basics and you how to plan an ornamental border or kitchen garden, so you can then use that knowledge to develop other areas of your garden. There is more to a planting design that a list of plants you like…
And for further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet – You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.
Related Gardening articles you may enjoy from our Award Winning Blog
Dahlias
6 Orange Flowers for the Autumn Equinox
Black Flowers for Your Spooky Garden
9 Shrubs and Trees for Stunning Autumn Foliage
Autumn Planting Ideas for Your Garden
5 Grow Your Own Thanksgiving Foods to eat with your Turkey
6 Tips for Your Autumn Garden
Autumn Equinox, Harvest Festivals and Your Garden
Why do leaves fall? And other Autumn Gardening Questions
Late Autumn Gardening Checklist
November in Your Garden – Tree Care, Pruning and Planting
