Harness the Beauty of Fall: Top Garden Picks for an Autumn Bloom

Just because summer has said goodbye, it doesn't mean you should bid your garden farewell, too. Regardless of your geographic location, there's an abundance of fall annuals sure to invigorate your autumn garden. After consulting with expert horticulturists across distinct climates, we have a list of fall annuals that will burst with color, texture, and impressive performance.

Calendula officinalis, commonly known as pot marigold, blooms in the spring and picks up intensity during the fall, especially with ample water and shading during summer’s heat. Its deep orange and golden hues make it an autumn favorite for gardens and bouquets, but it is equally attractive in tones of peach, pink, red, and cream. Germinating quickly from large seeds, Calendula is simple to sow directly in the garden or in containers, according to Robin Trott, a horticulture educator with the University of Minnesota Extension.

Noted for its elegant, feathery, silvery pink plumes that softly rustle in the wind, Celosia spicata, also known as cockscomb, adds depth to garden beds and borders. Blooming from spring till the first frost, it also works well as a fresh or dried cut flower.

Another speedy grower, Coriandrum sativum, can be replanted in fall after the heat of the summer subsides. Its lacy leaves enhance garden aesthetics and containers, and its robust flavor adds a dash of spice to pesto and salsa. Allowing your cilantro to flower will increase garden interest and provide a feast for pollinators, suggests Sheri Dorn, a horticulturist with the University of Georgia Extension. If your growing season is generous, the plant will produce coriander seeds for culinary use.

Plectranthus scutellarioides, typically grown as an annual, lavishly drapes your garden or cascades from containers with vibrant shades of pink, purple, red, green, and yellow. As the season progresses, it becomes increasingly lush. This plant offers a variety of sizes and shapes, creating abundant design choices for your garden, says Trott. Particularly striking is its potential for variety in texture and color.

A fall treat, Anethum graveolens, flourishes in temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees. Depending on your choice between tall leaning varieties and compact, bushy dwarf ones, this plant offers versatility. Additionally, it provides a home for Eastern Black Swallow butterflies where their full life cycle maturation can be observed.

Proving that fall isn’t only about colorful leaves, Jacobaea maritima’s fuzzy, silvery leaves provide a chic contrast to the usual garden palette. In regions just south of Atlanta, like Dorn’s, planting in fall ensures growth until spring, barring any surprise frosts. The plant is a great focal point for the front of houses or near mailboxes, suggests Dorn.

For lovers of greens, Forellenschluss, a light frost tolerant plant, brings character to your fall garden. Its lime-green leaves adorned with maroon add a dramatic touch. Dorn recommends planting it alongside pansies of similar colors for an interesting visual dynamic. More than just a beauty, it's also a tasty addition to autumnal salads.

A great start to fall, Brassica juncea provide massive, attractive, violet-purple leaves in your landscape. An easy-care plant, it does require that you remove yellowing leaves to keep your garden fresh. Why not use its tangy baby leaves to spice up burgers, sandwiches, and salads?

Ready for your fall vista is Tropaeolum majus, available in vibrant hues of orange, red, yellow, and pink. You can choose compact, mounding varieties for garden beds, climbing varieties for lattice supports, or trailing ones for containers. Its nectar is a pollinator magnet, and its edible flowers make fantastic cake, cocktail, and salad decorations.

Ornamental cabbage and kale (Brassica oleracea) generate exquisite shades of silvery purple, blue, green, rose, and creamy white. According to Dorn, these plants are a joy to savor en masse, or in smaller plantings in containers. "There's so much leaf texture, so much leaf shape, and there are so many different colors," she says.

Cold-weather bloomer Viola x wittrockiana withstands the chilly northern autumns, and smoothly sails through the winter in southern states. With color options including purple, blue, red, white, mahogany, bronze, orange, black, yellow, and apricot, this versatile plant can make a tremendous visual impact when planted en masse in one or two color options.

Another rejuvenating fall presence is Antirrhinum majus, also a mainstay in southern garden centers. Ensure its successful rebloom in fall by keeping it watered during the summer. The Chantilly cultivar, a frost-tolerant variety, is favored for its stunning, open-faced blooms. Equally appealing is the Madame Butterfly Cherry Bronze, an azalea-type snapdragon with plump, double petals in a vibrant apricot-rose hue.

The hearty Helianthus annuus grows joyfully in your landscape until the frost hits. This cheery sunflower is available in several forms, sizes, and colors. Beyond the classic gold and brown kinds, look for types with multiple blooms per stem in unique colors like white, pale green, red, mahogany, and chocolate. One notable variety is the Joker, with its impressive red-ringed yellow floret, and the dwarf variety Teddy Bear, bursting with fluffy gold blooms. Keeping pollinators and floral arrangements in mind, consider some from the ProCut Series, which maintains their beauty without the yellow pollen.

The easy-care and frost tolerant Lobularia maritima, also known as Sweet Alyssum, creates mounds of color in spring and again in fall. Perfume-scented Sweet William brings vibrancy to the fall garden. Popularly grown as an annual on Trott’s flower farm Prairie Garden Farm, this flower is a late-summer and early-fall monarch butterfly favorite. Start from seed for best results, and enjoy its flowers even after a chilly night.

Lastly, the bold colors of black-eyed Susans’ (Rudbeckia) golden-yellow petals and dark centers persist until the first frost. These robust flowers are a sight to behold in mass plantings and mixed borders.