7 Fall Perennials to Grow: How to Care for Fall Perennials

Perennials are flowers that live for multiple growing seasons, directly contrasting annuals, which offer only one season of blooms per year. As a result, you typically will not need to replant perennial plants after the growing season ends because they are hardy enough to withstand winter. Many herbs and flowers—from tulips to sage—are perennials.

The longer lifespan of perennials makes these plants easier on the home gardener. As long as you adhere to your perennials’ needs concerning their planting zones, watering, and sunlight exposure, you can have a successful garden of perennial flowers year after year with varied bloom times.

Add eye-catching fall colors to your perennial garden with these fall flowers that complement an autumn garden’s bright yellow and red leaves. Here is a list of some of the most popular fall perennials:

1. 1. Aster flowers (Asteraceae or Symphyotrichum): Aster flowers are great pollinators that come in short and tall varieties. These perennials are fall garden bloomers. Aster plants commonly bloom lilac or purple flowers with yellow centers, although they can produce white flowers, pink flowers, blue flowers, and other colors.
2. 2. Autumn joy sedum (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Herbstfreude’): Autumn Joy sedum is a variety of ornamental stonecrop and herbaceous perennial that will grow back year after year when cared for properly. Plant Autumn Joy stonecrop in the late springtime after the threat of the last frost has passed for a late fall growing season.
3. 3. Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus): The balloon flower, also known as the Chinese bellflower, is a low-maintenance, herbaceous perennial that you can plant in the late spring for a fall-flowering time. Balloon flowers have buds that inflate and puff into a balloon-like shape before they bloom outward. They grow best in full sun, and allowing them to warm up all summer will result in a prodigious amount of blooms.
4. 4. Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta): The black-eyed Susan is a bright yellow flower with a dark brown center. These North American native plants are members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and usually reach peak bloom in the late summer or early fall. Fall black-eyed Susan varieties include 'Cherokee Sunset' and 'Herbstonne.'
5. 5. Crocus plants (Colchicum autumnale): Crocuses have grass-like leaves and flowers that come in various colors and fragrances. Crocus plants grow out of corms (crocus bulbs) and sprout new flowers every year in the right conditions. Planting your crocus corms in late spring or early will yield a plentiful amount of showy and long-blooming crocus flowers by the fall.
6. 6. Chrysanthemums: Chrysanthemums, also called “mums” or “chrysanths” for short, are a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. Chrysanthemums have large flower heads with a proliferation of petals, though some varieties are more daisy-like with smaller petals. Gardeners typically plant mums in the spring, setting them up for a fall bloom time.
7. 7. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia): Russian sage is a low-maintenance, bushy perennial plant that blooms small violet flowers. This drought-tolerant plant is resilient and can thrive in most climates. Russian sage produces deer-resistant lavender flowers from mid-summer to the first frost of fall. It is very aromatic and attracts many pollinators like honeybees, hummingbirds, and butterflies.

Plant perennials in the early spring or summer for a fall bloom time. Your newly planted perennials will benefit from the warmth as the soil begins to warm up in summer, encouraging root and foliage growth.

Many fall perennials are hardy, low-maintenance growers, but there are a few ways to encourage your plants to bloom all season long. Here are some care tips to consider:

1. 1. Watering: Water your summer perennials regularly to make sure that they have enough nutrients to encourage growth. Let the soil dry out between waterings. Overwatering can lead to root rot, so make sure that your plants are growing in well-draining soil.
2. 2. Pruning: Pruning back dying fall bloomers towards the end of the growing season will encourage new growth the following season. Deadhead your flowering perennials (or pinch off dead blooms) so that your fall flowers will bloom more than once during a single growing season.
3. 3. Mulching: Applying a layer of mulch over the soil over the root system of your fall perennials will help them retain moisture and protect them from the impending winter frost when the ground freezes.
4. 4. Fertilizing: Feeding your plants low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertilizer will encourage your plant to produce more flowers and less foliage. Adding fertilizer to the soil will help your summer garden produce more vibrant blooms.

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