Fall-Color Garden Plan: Cottage-Style Design with Year-Round Interest

Free Garden Plan

This cottage-style garden graces front entry areas with interest year-round, peaking midsummer through fall. Coreopsis and daylily provide long summer bloom; asters, mums, sedum, and other fall bloomers take over as days shorten.

Fall-Themed with Year-Round Interest

For front yard appeal after ground freezes, the design includes ornamental grasses, a fruit-bearing Sargent crab, and a weeping white spruce.

Plant List, Part 1

(A) Stonecrop (Sedum telephium 'Matrona'; Zones 4-9). (B) Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'; Zones 5-9). (C) Eulalia grass (Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens; Zones 4-9). (D) New England aster (Aster novae-angliae 'Alma Potschke'; Zones 4-8). (E) Sunflower (Helianthus x multiflorus 'Flore Pleno'; Zones 5-9). (F) Rose (Rosa 'Purple Pavement'; Zones 5-8). (G) Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis; Zones 3-9). (H) Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns'; Zones 3-9). (I) Coreopsis (Coreopsis 'Limerock Ruby'; Zones 4-9). (J) Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink'; Zones 6-9). (K) Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'; Zones 5-9). (L) Helenium (Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'; Zones 4-8). (M) Weeping white spruce (Picea glauca 'Pendula'; Zones 3-6). (N) Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema weyrichii 'Pink Bomb'; Zones 4-7). (O) New England aster (Aster novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'; Zones 4-8).

Plants of Note

'Happy Returns' daylily – repeat bloomer with lemon yellow flowers, 2 ft tall.

'Shenandoah' switchgrass – 4 ft tall, bright green foliage turns maroon in fall.

'Purple Dome' New England aster – dwarf perennial, 18" tall, mildew resistant, deep-purple flowers.

Plant List, Part 2

(B) Switchgrass, (C) Eulalia grass, (E) Sunflower, (F) Rose, (H) Daylily, (I) Coreopsis, (J) Gaura, (L) Helenium, (N) Chrysanthemum, (O) New England aster, (P) Sargent crab apple (Malus sargentii; zones 4-8), (Q) Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum 'Gateway'; Zones 3-7).

Plants of Note

'Gateway' Joe Pye weed – tall with huge 18" wide flower heads favored by butterflies.

'Siskiyou Pink' gaura – 18-24" tall, airy, rose-pink flowers June to frost.

'Flore Pleno' sunflower – 5-7 ft tall, multi-stemmed with unique double blooms.

Alternative Plants for Warm Climates

For the sunny South, try these substitutions:

1. New England aster → Stokes' aster (Stokesia laevis 'Blue Danube' or 'Blue Star'), Zones 5-9; or Snowflake (Bacopa 'Snowflake'), Zones 9-10.
2. Crab apple → Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), Zones 4-9; or staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina 'Dissecta'), Zones 3-9.
3. Eupatorium fistulosum 'Gateway' → Eupatorium purpureum, Zones 3-9; or yarrow (Achillea 'Wesersandstein'), Zones 3-9.
4. Weeping white spruce → Southern yew (Podocarpus macrophyllus 'Maki'), Zones 7-10; or Himalayan weeping juniper (Juniperus recurva), Zones 7-10.
5. Chrysanthemum 'Pink Bomb' → fleabane Erigeron 'Summer Snow', Zones 5-8; or Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum), Zones 5-8.

Hostas are good space fillers for shade, adding texture with their large leaves.