Deflowered the garden in autumn? Nay! A multitude of plants still offer sumptuous blooms to prolong the summer in all beauty!
Shrubs as a backdrop
In regions where the winters remain mild, the ceanothe remains a sure value. The variety 'Autumnal Blue', which bears its name so well, assures you of bunches of blue flowers until the first frosts. Melliferous, this shrub attracts pollinating insects, providing them with a welcome food during this period. Multifunctional, the ceanothe finds its place at the bottom of a massif, leaning against a wall, as an isolated subject, or in diversified hedges.
Another marvel, the abelia, which, if you like it in your home, will not have stopped flowering since spring. The small white, pastel pink or fuchsia flowers are often very fragrant, which doesn't spoil anything. Place it in a flowering hedge not far from a busy area or near an entrance to enjoy it to the fullest!
In the land of camellias, the Camelia sasanqua and its countless cultivars, starts to bloom as early as September. To enjoy its delicately scented pastel-colored flowers, start a collection! It tolerates neutral soils better than other species, if they remain fertile, deep and well drained. In English style groves, in clumps but also in isolated subjects, this camellia appreciates the full, non-burning sun. As early as November, the winter viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense) distils its vanilla scent. Its pale pink bunches of flowers are marvelous in beds, low hedges or groves. Very versatile, easy to grow and very hardy, this shrub remains a must.
Another indispensable shrub, the pheasant tree (Leycesteria formosa) finishes its bloom in red drooping clusters in the middle of autumn, but don't panic, it remains very ornamental with its purplish berries that birds love! Easy to grow in half-shade as well as in full sun, very hardy (-20°C), it can be grown in all types of cool soil.
How not to speak about the remontant roses always sumptuous in autumn! Among them 'Bonica', a bush rose with beautiful pink flowers in shades, or the much appreciated 'Madame Alfred Carrière', a sure value that has been decorating gardens with its fragrant chamois pink flowers for decades!
Bulbs for cheerful flowerbeds and rock gardens
What could be more attractive than a beautiful bright yellow to echo the autumn foliage. The corollas of the autumn yellow crocus (Sternbergia lutea) will come particularly well in very well drained and sunny soil, which makes them ideal for south-facing rocky outcrops or driveway edges. For the same use, think of saffron (Crocus sativus), especially if your soil is sandy and slightly calcareous, which it appreciates above all. Planted in large groups, it forms charming purple carpets and can also provide you with saffron if you harvest its pistils!
If the soil is rather heavy and cool in your home, the cyclamen of Naples will do wonders at the foot of hedge shrubs, but also in borders or shady clumps. White, pink, red, the choice is vast among the cultivars!
For your flower beds or not far from the pond, the coffee lily is a plant still too little present in the gardens. Yet this bulbous plant resembling a gladiolus flowers all autumn if it benefits from a cool, well-drained soil and a sunny exposure. White, pink or bright red, it brightens up the gardens in this period which needs it so much.
Beautifully disheveled, the pink trumpet-shaped flowers of the nérine are a perfect match for the borders of alleys or the center of flower beds.
Not very common plant, but oh so spectacular, the red lycoris (Lycoris radiata), spreads its bright red shaggy flowers from September under tall trees where over time it will form very surprising scarlet carpets. Attention, it is to be reserved for gardens in the South of France because it is not very rustic!
Perennials as many colorful touches
Nothing like perennials to brighten up the garden for many years. As time goes by they form more and more imposing tufts. It is the case of the coréopsis, this plant of so easy culture which offers its yellow corollas to the autumn sun. It composes charming scenes when it is accompanied in the beds by asters with mauve or blue tints that contrast so well with its golden yellow.
Very drought tolerant plant and growing in very drained and fertile soil, the gaura, has no equal to lighten the beds of its aerial silhouette and its small starry flowers. It magnifies remontant roses and gives suppleness to chrysanthemum beds that also bloom in autumn. Thousands of cultivars offer as many shapes, textures and colors as there are possibilities for staging!
Bush as surprising as unknown Isodon longituba, will delight lovers of blue flowers until the first frosts. Gracil, tubular, they attract all eyes in the shade of tall trees and cool soil.
The horned violet (Viola cornuta) is a small, easy-to-living pansy that can be found in borders of flowerbeds and paths, in rock gardens, but also and especially in pots on a balcony. It is so successful that every year breeders offer new varieties with ever more surprising shades. These cultivars are also used in biennials but are abundantly resown in the garden. From white to black, through all shades of yellow, orange, pink, mauve and blue, not forgetting the variegated cultivars with contrasting colors: you will get flowers from autumn to spring!
