Colourful Autumn Perennials

Horticultural summer has past. The days are noticeably shorter. On the longest day of the year in Macduff, Aberdeenshire, we received just over18hrs of daylight and on the shortest day we will receive just over 6.5hrs – around 11.5hrs of difference! The autumn equinox on 22 September is fast approaching. At that point we will have lost about half of our mid-summer daylight hours. This year, like almost everywhere in the UK, we have been affected by the drought, which has left quite a few plants with crisped leaf edges and given biodiversity a very hard time too. It has noticeably impacted many trees causing early leaf fall. Looking into the future, it is worth thinking specifically about resilient planting - growing plants that can cope with more extreme weather events, such as this year’s drought and last years excessive rain. Despite the drought, Autumn is still a great season for many hardy plants which will continue to flower for some weeks to come. Here are a few tough herbaceous perennials that caught my eye recently.

Geraniums are hardy. They are herbaceous and will disappear below ground during the winter months but in many areas will flower through autumn. Geranium Rozanne benefits from a long flowering period and its exquisitely beautiful flowers are loved by bees. Planted along the edges of a borders, Geraniums can make a very attractive low informal ‘hedge’. They also make attractive ‘drifts’, providing good ground cover if planted in groups. Wild Geraniums grow throughout the UK and are a hardy alternative that can cope with shade and will provide food for pollinators and other insects through spring, summer and autumn.

Californian poppies growing along the base of a stone wall here in Macduff. They are regarded as a short-lived perennials (3 to 5 year life expectancy). They will grow just-about anywhere – in the least expected and difficult places and bring a welcome splash of bright colour to borders on grey days. Their cup-shaped flowers are loved by bees. Flowering can last from March to September.  Once established, they should slowly spread by self-seeding.

Asters – beautiful mauve / purple / white / blue, daisy-like flowers, with bright golden centres that are especially attractive to bees and other pollinators. They are dependable plants, coping with most of what nature throws at them. Once established they will grow to form dense clumps, smothered by colourful flowers over a long period from summer to late autumn. They are worth growing in different locations if there is space.

Japanese Anemones are a common sight, but perhaps not as common as they deserve. They are long flowering perennials and there are many colours to choose from. The flowers appear on slender stems growing from the lower dense foliage and are good for pollinators like bees and butterflies. The foliage provides shelter for other creatures. The brightly coloured flowers always remind me of butterflies hovering above the border!

The above photo was taken very recently in mid-September, Warsaw, but it could just as easily have been in any garden in the UK. Rudbeckia, hostas, ferns, sedum … make an attractive uncurated combination of textures, heights and colours. The large yellow daisy-like Rudbeckia flowers attract the eye as well as bees and butterflies. Like Anemones, the flowers are held on slender stems well-above the lower foliage. Rudbeckia come in a range of heights from around 60cm to 2m, so position in the border accordingly. The very tall Rudbeckia flowers may appear above ones eyeline - seen yellow against sky blue – a striking colour combination.

Echinacea come in many eye-catching colours and shades – white, oranges, pinks, reds, purples. Their very large daisy-like flowers look sumptuous, whether growing in borders or in containers and will continue well into autumn as shown above. Just like people, pollinating insects love them and they can often be seen with many butterflies feeding together. The stalks can be left during winter to provide on-going habitats for biodiversity.

Helenium SeeHow illustration held in front of he flowers. Once established, Helenium produce fantastic clumps of large daisy-like flowers combining bright yellows, oranges and reds that attract bees, butterflies and moths, as well as other insects. They are a favourite of many grand garden borders where they are often planted to form large fiery drifts - perfect if space permits. But they work equally well in small gardens, so worth giving them an opportunity. They are hardy and look good if left in the garden after flowering.

Sweet peas are a favourite flower of many gardeners. They come in a huge variety of colours and have a delicate fragrance too. They require support and will rise above the border if this is provided. They attract pollinators, especially bees.

Fragaria vesca - Wild Strawberry – a small hardy herbaceous perennials found in most areas of the UK. The above photo, taken in mid-September in Aberdeenshire, shows the plant still bearing delicious edible fruit, with more to come depending on the weather. Wild strawberries provide excellent ground cover and will creep over and between rocks. Grow enough of them and you will have a crop to pick from June onwards. They can be eaten fresh or collected for other cullinery uses. They have small pretty magenta coloured flowers and their leaves bronze well in autumn. They also grow well in containers.

The above selection of perennials are all hardy - able to cope with the vagaries of our changing climate. They all offer superb garden colour through autumn to the start of winter – great for us gardeners. But more importantly, they all attract pollinators, helping to sustain them as they prepare for winter. In milder areas, some of the plants may continue flowering well into winter itself. So, if your are thinking about adding some later flowering plants to your borders while improving your garden’s biodiversity perhaps some of the above suggestions may be worth thinking about. There are many more to choose from in, SeeHow – Plants and Flowers.

Happy Gardening!

The above Text and all Photographs are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow (07939 226417) for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text.

Wicek, now semi-retired, is an award-winning architect He is also a writer, horticulturalist and keen gardener and lives in Macduff on the dramatic north Aberdeenshire coast. He invented the unique interactive SeeHow gardening book concept, to actually show gardeners how plants and veg grow throughout the calendar-year. Because SeeHow books work visually, anyone can use them - from children to garden design professionals. Pictures really are worth 1,000 words!

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