Bring Out Fall Colors In Your Garden

DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING

FALL IS GARDENING’S “UNSUNG” SEASON. Instead of winding down at summer’s end, plan and plant for dazzling seasonal displays that look their best in fall ― especially as your landscape responds to cooling temperatures and changing light.

OAK LEAF HYDRANGEA

Even if New England isn’t your home, you can enjoy a dynamic autumn color scheme with these ideas:

• Visit your local arboretum or garden center: Actually, do both. Take a stroll through an arboretum or botanical garden and you’ll see trees, shrubs and perennials in all their glory, not to mention their mature size. Specialty nurseries showcase fall interest plants, including ones you may not have seen before with unique bark colors, textures, berries, seed heads and ― yes ― flame-colored foliage.
• Decorate outdoor spaces with traditional fall hues:If the plant palette in your area isn’t particularly autumnal, add dazzling details in cinnamon, ochre or maroon, as in this gorgeous oakleaf hydrangea (above left). A coat of scarlet paint will instantly transform your front door.
  

  AUTUMN ASTERS © DEBRA PRINZING

  Refinish a stack of unused flowerpots with coppery spray paint, plant them with pansies or asters (above right) and transform the front porch into a harvest display.

• Collect and display gifts from nature:Who needs faux when Mother Nature’s gifts are readily available (and more beautiful)? Gather leaves and tie them in bunches to hang as swags across your front porch. Fill a wooden bowl or woven basket with pinecones, acorns or chestnuts collected on autumn walks. When the wind knocks branches off trees, bundle the twigs and stand them in a vase or urn.

Observing and marking the changing seasons is an important practice, especially for gardeners, cooks, environmentalist, or anyone who values the amazing natural world around us.