A couple of weeks ago when I was manning the information booth at Greenbelt’s Farmers Market a gentleman stopped to ask if anyone could name the colorful plants he’d seen growing in the median strip along Southway – the spot shown above.  Well yes, I happened to have photographed it and could list the plants he’d been admiring for months:  crape myrtle, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and two annuals:  petunias and New Guinea impatiens.

The color-seeking gardener seemed disappointed by my answer.  He doesn’t want to “fool with annuals.”  So I rattled off names of shrubs and perennials for fall color and promised him a blog post here on the subject, with photos.  So here are some of my favorites, first for sunny spots like the median strip above.

In the photo above the mums are probably best grown once, as though they’re annuals.  But there ARE chrysanthemums that come back reliably every year, and even these common mums can be grown to look good year after year.  Find out how.

These days I’m growing Drift roses, like the ones shown here, but many of the new and super-popular landscape roses bloom until early winter.  I’m still seeing Knockout roses blooming all over the region, and Flower Carpet roses, too.

And let’s not forget that fall foliage isn’t just in trees.  To my eyes, nothing’s more dazzling than Amsonia’s fall display.

Fall Color for Shade

For shade suggestions I’ll simply link to my recent  Fall Color for Shady Spots article I wrote for the Behnkes blog.   In that article I mention a Prince George’s County Master Gardener who recommended Encore Azaleas and once again, that’s a conversation that took place at our Greenbelt Farmers Market.  They’re here answering our questions every third Sunday.