The hours of daylight during October are shorter than the hours of darkness and this trend will continue for the next few weeks. However, the time of year doesn’t need to fill you with gloom. You can fill your garden with plants that bring zest and vigour into your days, in the form of flowers and colour to provide a visual feast. Make sure you can see the best of the autumn-flowering plants from your house so that you are able to appreciate them, whatever the weather.
Shrubs and trees form a framework within a garden and some of these will already be providing some glorious autumn leaf colour. Others will be displaying juicy berries and fruits for the birds. If you are lucky enough to have a callicarpa, known as the beauty berry, you might already be enjoying its clusters of mauve jewel-like berries that are a sight to behold.
Perennials that perform in autumn
Perennials can surprise us the most at this time of year, often giving more in the way of flowers than we have experienced during midsummer, when the bright sun and dry soil can create challenges. There is an unexpectedly wide range of flowers to be found, particularly if you have continued to dead-head fading blooms of salvias, veronicas, roses, lavateras, shasta daisies, cosmos, red hot pokers and many more.
Some naturally save their burst of colour until late in the season and these include the diverse family of asters, also known as Michaelmas daisies but now classed as Symphyotrichum. They come in an astonishing range of sizes, from just 10cm through to 2m tall. The colour palette is equally as impressive, from white and pink through to the darkest purple and even red.
Another autumn-flowering perennial that has recently been awarded a new name is Hylotelephium, most commonly known as sedum. These drought-tolerant, fleshy-leafed, mounded plants save their star-shaped flowers until very late summer and into autumn, when they act as a magnet for butterflies seeking valuable nectar. They can be left in place all through the winter to provide clusters of interest.
Some of the best of the rest
• Despite their common name, Japanese anemones mainly originate from China! They begin flowering right at the end of summer and continue until the first frosts. They love sunshine and part-shade, and send up white or pink flowers held on tall, wiry stems that rise high above the foliage. Perfect for the back of the border, they will reward you by gradually spreading outwards to form a magnificent clump ready to delight every autumn.
• Often known as Guernsey lilies, although not strictly a member of the lily family, nerines are hardy perennials originating from South Africa. They love the sunshine and need a south-facing position, where they will brighten up autumn days by sending up strong, pink, lily-like flowers in delightful clumps of joy.
• To bring the colour of sunshine into any planting scheme, never underestimate the delightful charms of rudbeckia, also known as black-eyed Susan. They produce bright yellow, dazzling flowers with a dark centre from July through to the first frosts, getting better and brighter as the autumn progresses. They look magnificent when planted through ornamental grasses, which are also looking stunning in October and beyond.
• Helianthus are also stars of the October garden. Not all sunflowers are the single-stemmed giants that children love to grow! The perennial variety, which can grow in a drift reaching 2m tall, bring a long-lasting splash of sunshine throughout the autumn. Bees also appreciate this rich source of nectar late in the season and, once again, they look wonderful next to grasses.
• Penstemon, sometimes known as beardtongue, are cottage-garden favourites that can bloom for an impressive six months of the year! They happily flower right through October, if frosts stay away. Keep deadheading the tubular flowers, which range in colour from blues to purples and pale pinks, and enjoy watching bees escape from the weather into the safety of the bell-shaped blooms where they can feast on nectar. Don’t be tempted to prune once colder weather has arrived, however, as they need the protection of their foliage over the winter.
This selection of late-bloomers is by no means complete, as there are many more October-flowering perennials that will lift the spirits when you seek them out. Gaura, with its delicate, ‘whirling butterfly’ flowers, will happily continue to flower throughout October, as will Persicaria, agastache and echinacea (coneflowers). Fill your life with flowers and enjoy!
By Caroline Knight
