Fall is around the corner.A good friend and gardener pointed out to me that in a previous column I had been suggesting seeds to plant for fall, but offered no suggestions of shrubs and plants that shine in fall garden. Fall is a great time to take a good look around your garden and see where the holes are, make notes of what you liked and what did well, and think about areas that need improvement.
Shrubs are a great foundation plant in the garden and many come in dwarf forms and can be grown in smaller spaces like patios and balconies. The most widely recognized fall shrub, with its fire-engine-red leaves, is euonymus alatus, also known as the burning bush, and is available in regular and dwarf forms. But for something a little different and just as spectacular in the fall, check out the callicarpa, or beautyberry bush.
The callicarpa shrub has truly purple berries that gleam on its fall branches. They come out late in summer, and look great with the leaves but will persist into the winter as they cling onto the bare branches.Spectacular. C. "Profusion" and C. "Early Amethyst" are both great selections, but you will need full sun to grow these beauties as the berry production isn't very plentiful without sun.
Blueberries are becoming a mainstay in many of my residential designs these days.As well as being delicious and beautiful plants year round, they work well in lots of landscapes, provide fall colour, and our damp acidic soil is a naturally perfect setting to support optimum growth.
Any variety of blueberry will provide you with lots of fruit and gorgeous fall colour in a typical landscape, but if you are challenged for space or want to grow blueberries in pots, check out a variety called "Sunshine Blue."
"Sunshine Blue" has bright pink spring flowers, delicious fruit, dwarf growth, and incredible fall colour that lasts into December, which makes this a superstar among blueberries. These little gems are worth incorporating into your landscape.
I know that I tend to go on about evergreen accents in the garden, but they are the bones of any well-designed area. They add four-season interest to planters, and tend to get ignored in the fall bounty category.
If you think evergreen shrubs are boring, than check out thuja "Rheingold." The small evergreen shrub changes its beautiful golden foliage as the season change. In winter, Rheingold takes on a bronzed colour. New growth in the spring takes on a bright gold colour that can be painted with a hint of red here and there. As the season progresses and warm weather returns, the new growth matures into a lovely chartreuse colour. You can't accuse this thuja of being ever "green."
