Plants
4. ‘Autumn Joy’ Stonecrop and Switchgrass A popular fall bloomer, ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10) is a fleshy, easy-care succulent topped with flowers that turn from white to deep mauve in fall. Le jardinet, the designer of this Seattle garden, paired a dwarf variety of ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop with pink-tipped ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’, zones 4 to 9) for a matched fall pairing. Water requirement: Moderate for switchgrass, low to moderate for sedum Light requirement: Full sun
3. Purple Coneflower and Russian Sage Purple coneflower and Russian sage make an all-star combination for late-summer and fall perennial beds. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 8), native to Eastern North America, are cold-hardy perennials that bloom for months, attracting native bees and butterflies. After the bloom, the flowers’ spiky deep-orange centers can be left in the garden as decorative seedpods (and a feast for birds). With its pale stems and delicate lavender-blue flowers, Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 5 to 9) adds an airy quality to beds, appearing like a pale-colored cloud when planted in drifts. Russian sage blooms from July to October. Both plants are drought-tolerant, making them a good pair for a tough, low-water spot like this sidewalk garden by Garden Stories in Portland, Oregon.
1. Black-Eyed Susan and Joe Pye Weed North American native black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta, USDA zones 3 to 9; find your zone) is a fall favorite for good reason. They start blooming in midsummer but really come into their own by early fall — just when many other summer bloomers are looking tired. Plus, their vivid gold petals and dark centers catch the eye in an autumn garden. In this Chicago garden by Milieu Landscaping, the black-eyed Susans mix with eastern North American native Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum, zones 5 to 10), which bloom from July through September with butterfly-attracting mauve-pink blossoms.
“Fewer selections with different habits achieve [the] strength of mass and big color,” says Bill Chorvat, maintenance division manager at Hursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors in Bolingbrook, Illinois. In the winter container seen here, Chorvat used curly willow, Fraser fir, magnolia tips, silver dollar eucalyptus and red-seeded eucalyptus. Tips: Hardy fir, spruce and juniper cuttings will provide long-lasting beauty over the winter. For contrasting foliage texture and color, look to resilient eucalyptus and magnolia leaves.
14. Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) Native to deciduous woodlands of Eastern North America from Canada to North Carolina Palm-sized, heart-shaped leaves distinguish this attractive ground cover, native to Eastern woodlands from Canada to North Carolina. Plant along pathway borders where the mounding plant can soften edges and on shaded slopes in woodland gardens. Plants spread by rhizomes, not overly aggressively, but it is still best to plant in a garden bed where you don’t mind it naturalizing. Triangular-shaped maroon flowers emerge in spring at the plant base. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 34.4 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 6) Water requirement: Moderate to regular; thrives in consistently moist, well-drained soil Light requirement: Partial to full shade Mature size: 6 inches to 1 foot tall and 1 to 1½ feet wide
10. Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) Native to prairies, pine barrens and open woodlands from Massachusetts to Kansas south to Florida and Texas It’s difficult to find a native grass that puts on a show as dramatic as pink muhly. In fall the medium-green, fine-textured grasses explode with clouds of pale magenta blooms, best appreciated when planted in drifts and masses. Despite their delicate appearance, the plants are tough — able to withstand high summer temperatures (particularly in partial shade) and grow in poor soil. Try pairing pink muhly with blue-green agaves for dramatic form and color contrast. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 20.6 degrees Celsius (zones 6 to 9) Water requirement: Low Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Mature size: 2 to 3 feet tall and wide
Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus) Native to temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, Europe and parts of Asia This showy perennial features a firework-like display of cream-colored bloom spikes in spring. The nectar-rich blooms attract pollinators, such as moths and mourning cloak butterflies, and plants are hosts to the dusky azure butterfly caterpillar. Plants have both female and male forms: male ones have showier blooms and female ones have decorative seed heads that follow the blooms. Use goat’s beard, also called bride’s feathers, as a foundation plant, in swaths in wooded areas or as the tallest plant in a mixed perennial border. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 28 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 7) Water requirement: Moderate to regular; grows best in rich, consistently moist soil Light requirement: Partial shade Mature size: 2 to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide Note: Goat’s Beard can reseed in open soil. Plant in an area where this is desired.
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) Native to New Brunswick in Canada, south to Georgia and west to Michigan With cloud-like blossoms from white to light pink in late spring, this woodland ground cover forms a bright carpet in shaded garden settings. Plant foamflower where you don’t mind a natural carpet. Plant heartleaf foamflower (T. cordifolia var. collina) where spreading is not desired, as it stays put in a clump. Also plant colorful Tiarella hybrids in beds for more interest once the blooms of the natives fade. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 34.4 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9) Water requirement: Moderate to regular; keep soil consistently moist Light requirement: Partial to full shade Mature size: 8 to 15 inches tall and 1 to 2 feet wide; some selections are more aggressive spreaders
Grass plus sweet potato vine Dozens of potted plants dot this roof terrace designed by New Eco Landscapes in Manhattan, but this combination of wispy dwarf maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Adagio’) and two colors of sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) stands out for its beauty and simplicity. Planting in tall containers boosts the height of the grasses, turning them into a shimmering canopy, and gives plenty of room for the sweet potato vines to tumble down the sides with lush foliage.
Lime- and pink-colored coral bells (Heuchera spp.) and a crush of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum sp.) succulents make for a playful combination in this concrete urn arranged by Cording Landscape Design in New York. Like many succulents, hens-and-chicks pick up more pink and reddish tones when exposed to brighter sunlight or cold temperatures or in periods of drought. In this case, the pink tips tie in beautifully with the undersides of the coral bell leaves. Water requirement: Low to moderate Light requirement: Partial to full sun; move out of direct sun in hot inland areas
2. Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) Native to the central U.S. east to southern New England and south to Florida and Texas Loved by: Phil Steinhauer of Designscapes Colorado in Denver Why this tree: “It has beautiful purplish-pink blooms that completely cover the tree in the spring. It has an attractive rich-green, heart-shaped leaf that makes it an interesting foliage tree as well,” Steinhauer says. Leaves are bright green in spring and summer and turn pale yellow in fall. Special features: “Native bees rely heavily on the redbud flowers in early spring. The eastern redbud is a beautiful tree that is beneficial to a variety of animals and many species of insects, including bees,” the designer adds. Growing tips: Steinhauer advises planting a redbud tree in early spring. “They prefer well-drained soil and a partly shaded location,” he says. Design tips: “These plants work well next to patios and in courtyards because of their compact form. Redbuds are typically the first tree to bloom in early spring, which makes tulips and other bulbs a great companion plant or understory,” Steinhauer says. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Cel...
1. Seven-Son Flower (Heptacodium miconioides) Native to China Loved by: Jennifer Hoxsie of Greenhaven Landscapes in Chicago Why this tree: It stands out in the landscape with its “exfoliating bark, glossy, attractive foliage [and] late-summer fragrant, white blooms,” Hoxsie says. “It is really quite beautiful and interesting to look at year-round.” The designer often recommends this tree to clients who are real plant lovers or are looking for a standout specimen tree.
For this entryway arrangement in front of a Chicago home, Greenhaven Landscapes filled a pair of limestone urns with purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’), bedding mums and trailing wire vine (Muehlenbeckia sp.). The urns stand proudly above a cascade of pumpkins and gourds spilling from harvest buckets onto a bed of hay.
With flowers burning like embers in shades of orange, yellow and burgundy-red, this elevated container brightens up a shaded entry to a home in Scarborough, Maine. Designer Irene Brady Barber used a combination of shade-loving tuberous begonias, coral-petal ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’) and variegated bloodleaf (Iresine sp.), with variegated potato vine (Solanum jasminoides ‘Variegata’) and tiny-leaved muehlenbeckia trailing over the side of the moss-laden planter. Water requirement: Moderate to high; the container seen here is lined with sphagnum moss, which dries out quickly Light requirement: Partial shade; this combination receives morning sun and afternoon shade
Swapping side tables for pots bursting with vibrant foliage and flowers takes the feel of an outdoor lounge from hangout to full-on garden show. Here, designer Holly DeGoey used plant stands to lift up potted arrangements of pink mandevilla and ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia to eye level for anyone sitting on the sofa in this West Des Moines, Iowa, backyard. She packed the containers on the ground with white impatiens, silvery dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria) and a cascade of bronze and chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas).
Cottage-Style in Upstate New York Bursting with blooms, this romantic perennial garden in Buffalo, New York, overflows onto both sides of the sidewalk, enveloping a passerby with summer flowers. If you embrace a “more is more” attitude toward gardening, re-create this look with a mix of colorful spring- and summer-blooming perennials, and optimize for plant height to create lush layers of flowers. Plants in this garden bed include: Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 5 to 9) Day lily (Hemerocallis sp.) Coneflower (Echinacea sp.) Petunia (Petunia sp.) Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Full sun
While technically a bed bordering a Boston driveway rather than the street, this three-tiered combination by landscape architect Sean Papich featuring perennial purple coneflowers, tawny ornamental grasses and low-growing tufts of day lily foliage would also work as a sidewalk combination. The purple coneflowers are particularly long-blooming and, in combination with the tall ornamental grasses, will carry the garden through fall. Plants in this garden bed include: ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, zones 3 to 8) ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, zones 4 to 9) ‘Stella de Oro’ day lily (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’, zones 4 to 9), after blooming Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Full sun
Lantana, creeping Jenny
Whether in containers or in the ground, I always plant marigolds with my edibles. Not only do the bright little flowers help turn away the wildlife, they also help repel insects. Lettuces and strawberries are easy to grow in deck railing boxes which can be covered with bird netting when the berries are at their most vulnerable. Berries grown in the ground can be hidden under straw, or chopped oak leaves. Certain small stature blueberry plants can be grown in containers, too. Covering blueberry plants with netting is possible, but I've found picking the berries just before they are fully ripe allows me to keep ahead of the birds. My neighbor, who grows Fuyu trees and raised beds of Oriental veggies, swears by a distraction method to lure critters away from his plants. He has a seed and corn feeder on the other side of the yard, and keeps it filled year round. The bases of his trees are wrapped in aluminum foil. For leaf lettuce and romaine, I use planter boxes I can move into the shade to lengthen the growing season since, in our area, lettuce doesn't grow well in the summer heat. In boxes I can't move, I cast in portulaca or zinna seeds to take over after the lettuce has 'burne...
In a compact veggie garden in Massachusetts, red and pink zinnias provide hits of color and are attractive beacons for pollinators amidst plantings of sprouting broccoli, romaine lettuce and sweet basil. Water requirement: Moderate to regular Light requirement: Full sun
Baskets of Herbs and Boxwood This tiered courtyard garden in London’s Chelsea neighborhood presents potted boxwood and herbs in a fresh way. The display features alternating baskets of evergreen boxwood and culinary herbs, adding pleasing swaths of green to the patio that are easily accessible for clipping. Water requirement: Moderate (for boxwood) to regular (for herbs) Light requirement: Full sun
For this Boston rooftop garden designed for a home cook, landscape designer Jean Brooks cleverly worked vegetables, ornamentals and pretty culinary herbs into side-by-side containers. Two tomato plants occupy the largest planters, with culinary parsley, sage, variegated thyme and (nonedible) purple heuchera plants for foliage contrast. Brooks planted nonedible stonecrop (Sedum sieboldii) in the container closest to the ground. Water requirement: Moderate to regular Light requirement: Full sun
Glazed containers and attractive trellises provide growing space for a trio of pepper and cherry tomato plants. The potted gardens seen here, by landscape designer Pamela Crawford, are just as decorative as ornamental-only versions yet offer the sweet rewards of a summer harvest. The bright zinnias that fill in around the edges attract pollinators — great for producing high tomato and pepper yields — and beneficial insects like ladybugs.
Landscape designer Becky Whitacre of Smalls Landscaping used vines and bold foliage to transform the balcony garden in Ogden Dunes, Indiana, seen here into a tropical paradise. Plants include elephant’s ear (Colocasia sp.), fuchsia, petunias, lantanas, pink-flowering mandevilla vines and a waterfall of sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas sp.). The containers receive filtered light and daily drip irrigation.
Partridge planted chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas) alongside purple heart (Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’), purple-flowering million bells (Calibrachoa sp.), orange ‘Sedona’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Sedona’) and two types of bold, large-leaved cannas. The containers are fertilized weekly to encourage healthy growth.
Curtis used a color-packed mix of red-orange and white impatiens, mixed coleus, banana plants, strappy phormium, lime green sweet potato vine (Ipomea ‘Marguerite) and trailing silver dichondra. She fertilizes the containers every three to four weeks throughout the growing season with a high-phosphate fertilizer (best for blooms). The containers receive morning sun and afternoon shade on an east-facing terrace in Boise, Idaho.
Van Zandt picked ‘Cologreen’ juniper trees (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Cologreen’, zones 3 to 7) as a nod to the cypress trees of the Mediterranean. They will reach 10 feet tall and have a columnar form that mimics the region’s iconic trees. The contractor installed the new fence in front of the existing fence in the back, which allowed the team to preserve the abundant Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, zones 3 to 10) vines that were growing over the old fence. Local fabricators made the large powder-coated-steel planters. The black picks up on the color scheme of the patio and decks. Van Zandt filled the planters along the back of the yard with succulents and ‘Little Bunny’ dwarf fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’, zones 5 to 9). Note: Some species of Pennisetum can self-seed and spread, depending on where you live and your yard’s conditions. Check with a local landscape professional or reputable nursery before planting.
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