Fall is many gardeners’ favorite season, and garden design expert Linda Vater is no exception. Marking her first autumn season in her new cottage home, she is going “all in” with her landscape! After a blazing dry Oklahoma summer, Linda takes advantage of the crisp coolness of fall to ensure her landscape has color and interest for this season and beyond.
Linda has curated a fall planting guide featuring her favorite plants that thrive when planted during this glorious gardening season, offering bold color and breathtaking foliage to make fall the loveliest season of the year in your landscape. Her favorites from the guide include:
Fire Chief™ Arborvitae: This small but mighty shrub has lush green foliage with orange tips that brighten to red in cooler temperatures. Linda has incorporated Fire Chief in multiple spots in her landscape that needed a pop of vibrant color. Resistant to sun and windburn, this hardy, easy-care shrub requires no pruning to keep its attractive mounded shape. Planted as a single specimen or group of three, this shrub will surely be one of your favorites too! Ideal for full sun to part shade areas in Zones 5 – 8.
‘Orange Rocket’ Barberry: This award-winning easy-care shrub infuses a ruby-red hue into any drab space from spring through fall. Deer, disease, and pest resistant, its easy care and lower water requirements make it a natural choice for low-maintenance landscapes. Growing to 4 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide, Orange Rocket is the vertical element with a flair for borders, landscapes, or containers. Ideal for full sun to part shade areas in Zones 5 – 9.
Autumn Monarch™ Encore® Azalea: By fall, the monarch butterfly migration is well underway across Oklahoma, and Linda is on the flight path! She has transformed her cottage landscape into a pollinator haven, and what better way to pay homage to this renowned butterfly than with this fiery-hued bloom? Light green foliage and striking ruffled blooms in shades of orange-pink make a lovely pairing with Bronze Beauty™ Cleyera. Try this evergreen plant combination in any full sun to part shade area in Zones 7 – 10.
‘Kaleidoscope’ Abelia: Linda holds this colorful shrub dear for its hardiness in the landscape and its bold hues that transform each season. This easy-care evergreen has chameleon-like foliage that shifts from golden yellow in spring to orange-red in fall. Kaleidoscope Abelia has a profusion of delicate white blooms sporadically from spring into fall. Brighten up any full sun to part shade area in Zones 6 – 9.
Carex EverColor® ‘Everillo’: Need a bright evergreen pop of color for shady spaces? This gorgeous grass will add drama to your landscape as a groundcover, edging, or tucked into a window box or container. In hues of electric yellow-green, it positively pops with purple and white hues; use it to infuse bright colors into a shady porch planter. Perfect for part shade to shade areas in Zones 5 – 9.
As the days grow shorter and cooler, you can create a landscape that continues to captivate with color and charm. Download our fall shrub guide here.
