Here are some suggestions for herbaceous perennials you can include in your garden, to enjoy their spectacular fall foliage.
| Latin name (common name) | Foliage colours |
|---|---|
| Alkekengi officinarum, syn. Physalis alkekengi (Chinese lantern) | Yellow |
| Aquilegia canadensis (Red columbine) | Dark purple |
| Bergenia (Bergenia) | Bronze |
| Bistorta affinis, syn. Polygonum affine (Himalayan knotweed) | Red |
| Epimedium (Bishop's hat) | Bronze, yellow, red |
| Geranium dalmaticum (Dalmatian cranesbill) | Bright red |
| Iris sibirica (Siberian iris) | Yellow |
| Oenothera (Evening-primrose) | Red |
| Phedimus kamtschaticus, syn. Sedum kamschaticum (Kamchatka stonecrop) | Orange-red |
| Platycodon (Balloon flower) | Striking translucent yellow |
| Sempervivum (Houseleek) | Purplish to red |
Perennials to combine with conifers
While trees and shrubs don their fall colours, most conifers stay green all year round. However, the needles of the tamarack (Larix laricina) turn golden before they fall. Other conifers take on more of a purplish hue with the onset of cold weather, such as the Atlantic white cypress 'Heatherburn' (Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Heatherburn') and the horizontal junipers 'Wiltonii' and 'Plumosa'.
These conifers make a good contrasting backdrop for plants with grey, silver or pale yellowish-green foliage that persists until the fall.
| Latin name (common name) | Foliage colours |
|---|---|
| Artemisia stellariana (Beach wormwood, Steller’s wormwood) | Silvery green |
| Aurinia saxatilis (Basket of gold) | Grey |
| Cerastium tomentosum (Snow-in-summer) | Silver |
| Veronica incana (Silver speedwell) | Grey |
Flowers
No garden would be complete without the presence of a few flowers that decorate it in the fall. Here are a few essentials:
| Latin name (common name) | Flowers colours |
|---|---|
| Aconitum carmichaelli (Carmichael's monkshood) | Amethyst flowers |
| Actaea simplex (Kamchatka bugbane) | Longs white cobs |
| Anemone x hybrida (Japanese anemone) | White to pink flowers, depending on the cultivar |
| Chelone glabra (White turtlehead) | White flowers, sometimes tinged with pink, that look like turtle heads |
| Chrysanthemum zawadskii, syn. Chrysanthemum weyrichii (Zawadzki chrysanthemum) | Pink daisy-like flower heads with yellow disks |
| Colchicum automnale (Autumn crocus) | Hardy bulb with lilac bloom |
| Hylotelephium, syn. Sedum (Autumn stonecrop) | Flowers of different shades of pink, depending on the cultivar |
| Physostegia virginiana (Virginia false dragonhead) | Pink flowers |
| Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' (Sullivant’s coneflower) | Yellow flowers with brown to black cones |
| Symphyotrichum, syn. Aster (Aster) | Pink, red, pale blue or purplish-blue flowers, depending on the cultivar |
| Tricyrtis (Toadlily) | Beautiful spotted flowers, discreet, unusual shape |
Based on an article by René Giguère and Robert Mineau in Quatre-temps magazine, Vol. 23, No.1.