As the weather cools, these autumn flowers can provide vibrant late-season color to your yard or container garden.
While summer may be coming to a close, fall offers an excellent opportunity to extend the beauty of your garden. By incorporating fall-blooming plants into your landscape, you not only celebrate the season’s cooler days but also provide essential food sources for pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies.
These creatures rely on fall flowers as they prepare for migration, hibernation, or winter survival. In return, you’ll enjoy the rich colors and fragrances of your autumn garden during some of the year’s most pleasant days.
Looking to enhance your garden with fall flowers? We consulted horticulturists from different regions to identify the best fall-blooming plants that will keep your garden vibrant throughout the season.
1. Marigolds
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Known for their bright, warm hues, marigolds bloom throughout the season and thrive in full sun. They are well-suited for hot climates, making them ideal for regions with extended summers.
2. Violas
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These perennials add a splash of purple to your garden in the fall. They grow quickly, are edible, and prefer moist, acidic soil. Consider using a peat-based mix or adding peat moss to their soil.
3. Petunias
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Popular for their long flowering period from spring to frost, petunias are perfect for hanging baskets and require full sun. Due to their tiny seeds, starting from a nursery might be easier.
4. Hydrangeas
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Elegant and versatile, hydrangeas bloom from early to mid-summer and can survive winter freezes. They prefer partial shade and come in various colors, including pink, purple, blue, and white, depending on soil acidity.
5. Roses
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Shrub roses or landscape roses are lower maintenance compared to older varieties. They are hardy, disease-resistant, and provide classic beauty to your garden.
6. African Daisies
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With their vibrant petals and metallic centers, African daisies are quick to bloom and thrive in full sun. They are excellent for attracting bees.
7. Blanket Flowers
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These daisy-like flowers come in warm shades of yellow and red and are known for their ability to spread and cover an area. They thrive in full sun and poor soil.
8. Flossflower
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Resembling frilly pompoms, flossflowers bloom in blue, purple, red, white, and pink. They do best in full sun.
9. Strawflower
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With bright yellow, button-shaped blooms and silvery-green foliage, strawflowers are great for hanging baskets. They can tolerate partial shade but bloom best in full sun.
10. Black-Eyed Susans
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These bright yellow, daisy-like flowers are drought-resistant and attract pollinators like butterflies and bees. They can act as annuals, biennials, or short-lived perennials.
11. Chrysanthemums
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A quintessential fall flower, chrysanthemums are widely available and bloom well with consistent watering and bright, indirect light.
12. Balloon Flower
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These flowers, named for their balloon-like buds, come in blue, white, and pink. They thrive in full sun but can also grow in partial shade.
13. Goldenrod
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Known for its striking appearance, goldenrod prefers full sun and well-drained soil. Note that its pollen can cause allergies in some individuals.
14. Hardy Fuchsia
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Hardy fuchsia, also known as fuchsia magellanica, provides a burst of color. It requires specific soil conditions—not too dry, moist, or hot.
15. Amaranthus
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Producing tassel-like flowers, amaranthus is great for fresh or dried arrangements. It prefers full sun to part shade.
16. Dahlias
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Available in nearly every color, dahlias bloom from mid-summer into fall. Choose orange- and red-tinted varieties for autumn displays.
17. Cornflower
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These bright blue flowers attract birds and butterflies. They can adapt to both full sun and full shade, and deadheading spent blooms encourages continued flowering.
18. Pansies
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Pansies tolerate cold temperatures and will bloom until a hard frost, with vibrant colors appearing again in the spring.
19. Sunflowers
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Although they peak in mid-summer, sunflowers continue to grow into the fall. Harvest them when seeds turn brown or seed heads yellow.
20. Canna
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Tropical canna flowers, with their lush leaves and heights up to 8 feet, can last from May to October. Dwarf varieties are suitable for containers and can be brought indoors for year-round enjoyment.
21. Cosmos
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Cosmos: Ideal for continuous blooms from spring to fall, cosmos are great for bouquets and can self-seed, providing even more flowers.
