Five Fabulous Plants for Fall
(Adapted USA Weekend Article by Fran Sorin)

While fall is just around the corner, the end of summer does not have to mean the end of the growing season. Your fall garden can sizzle with these five plants, each relatively unknown to the weekend gardener. They're rich in color and texture, and they're moderately priced. You'll marvel at how these few minor additions can make a major difference in your fall landscape. Fall does not have to be the end of the gardening season; it could be just the beginning. So, use these plants to help your garden stage its last bravura performance before it enters its period of slumber.

1. Salvia vanhouttii

This is a mound-forming plant that grows up to 3 1/2 feet tall. Its magnificent racemes (flower clusters), which range from orange to deep red (depending on how much sun it gets), contrast beautifully with the pale purples and blues of asters and the oranges of other fall foliage. It blooms from late summer through autumn, and it's hardy only in gardening Zones 9 and 10. A plus: hummingbirds are drawn to this specimen.

2. Leonotis leonurus (lion's ear)

This sub-shrub, native to South Africa and widely used in tropical climates, can grow up to 6 feet tall rather quickly if given generous amount of water, sun, and fertilizer. Leonotis leonurus' magnificent whorls of tubular orange glowers make it a standout in a fall border (or in containers). Gardeners who do not live in Zone 10, where this plant is hardy, can take either cuttings in the fall or bring the entire plant indoors for the winter. If you know how to propagate, you can use one plant to create several for next year's garden.

3. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (hardy plumbago)

This perennial spreading ground cover has slim red stems with brilliant spiky clusters of crisp, deep-blue flowers that boom seemingly-endlessly from early autumn on. Even after the plant has finished flowering, the leaves continue to offer a display as they turn from green to red. Hardy in Zones 6-9, this specimen shows best in the front of a border, in a container, or in a rock garden. And it's not fussy about the conditions. It can be grown in either sun or shade and adapts itself to a wide variety of soils.

4. Panicum virgatum (switch grass)

This clump-forming, columnar perennial grass has stems of silver to purple-green and dancing racemes of long flowers (up to 20 inches) that begin to bloom in the autumn. It's a great architectural plant to use solo as a highlight in the fall garden. It can also be effective in mass plantings or interspersed in a herbaceous border. This plant does best in fertile, well-drained soil, in full sun, but it can thrive in less-than-ideal conditions as well. It's hardy in Zones 5-10.

5. Caryopteris x clandonensis cultivars (blue mist shrub or bluebeard)

A woody perennial, originally from Asia, this bush is a great addition to a shrub or herbaceous border. Its blue or purple flowers perch on delicate, cane-like silver stems 3 feet high, complementing other, more vividly colored plants. It begins to bloom sometime between late summer and fall, and although it does best in rich, well-drained soil in full sun, it will tolerate light shade. It's a prolific self-seeder, but weeding will easily keep it under control. This species is hardy in Zones 5-9.