Fall Color for Shady Spots

October 22, 2012
Stephanie Fleming
Annual Plants, Perennial Plants, Shrubs and Trees
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I’ve reported on on my favorite plants for fall color in sunny spots and as promised, here are my faves for shade.

Annuals

Coleus come in dozens of colors and patterns. Mine are just now, in late October, losing their leaves. They’ve looked big and bold and colorful all season, until let’s say m id-fall.

Perennials

Begonia Grandis blooms from September through fall. The foliage is gorgeous all season.

Japanese Anemones look great here at the National Gallery’s Sculpture Garden with petunias.

Hakonechloa Grass doesn’t bloom, but its gold foliage looks great all season and the dried foliage looks lovely in the winter, too. Behind it is a shrub that’s colorful in the fall and winter, too – the Acuba.

Carex is the name of a large genus of grass-like plants (technically called sedges, not grasses) and many are evergreen, like the ‘Ice Dance’ variety above. It’s been a primary groundcover in my shade garden for decades now. It brightens up even the darkest spot.

Shrubs

The glorious Oakleaf Hydrangea is one of my all-time favorite shrubs and it’s famous for its four-season interest. The photo above demonstrates its fall glory and coming up next, with no leaves in sight, is its lovely exfoliating bark.

Encore Azalea is a repeat-blooming shrub was highly recommended to me just yesterday by a Prince George’s Master Gardener. She told me that hers are blooming like crazy even now, in late October.

Posted by Susan Harris. Photo credits: Encore Azaleas. All others by Susan Harris.

Stephanie Fleming

Stephanie Fleming was raised at Behnke’s Nurseries in Beltsville. Her Mom, Sonja, was one of Albert & Rose Behnke’s four children. She was weeding from the moment she could walk and hiding as soon as she was old enough to run, so many weeds, so little time. Although she quickly learned how to pull out a perennial and get taken off of weed pulling duty.