It’s fall and we’re just wrapping up the gardening season up here in the northeast. Racking leaves, those last few fall plantings are complete and ready for next season and it’s time to start planning for what will enhance the landscape in the spring. Here are 5 plants you definitely should consider that will ensure you have a colorful landscape year round.
1) P.J.M.’s (Rhododendron Hybrids)
These will be the first to bloom in early spring right when you have had enough of all those wintery grays and will bring a flood of color to your gardens. Plant P.J.M’s as they will bloom well before daffodils, tulips and azaleas. They are inexpensive, so stock up! Give them good soil with a bit of acidity and lots of organic materials. As for placement in the yard, these will do well in light shade to sunny exposures.
2) Japanese Maple
The last to color in the landscape is the vibrant red from a Japanese Maple. When all the foliage is already gone, Japanese Maples present their most intense color. For the rest of the year the leaves are a beautiful deep red – this tree is a focal point year around. Larger ones can be expensive but why not start with a small one and watch it grow and mature. We found one for $99 in one of the big box stores a couple of seasons ago.
3) Roses
Beauty and fragrance all summer long with knock-out roses. Roses can be fussy and difficult to grow. But not knock-out roses. Plant them in full sun light, feed with knock-out fertilizer a couple of times during the summer and you will have beautiful roses in your garden all summer. With some milder temperatures you can expect your roses to even bloom into the fall.
4) Brunnera Jack Frost
Color doesn’t have to come from a flower, sometimes beautiful colors are provided by variating foliage. Brunnera Jack Frost is often grown for the delicate blue flowers in early June. However all year long, even more so, we enjoy the flush green and white leaves along a path. This plant will also keep giving over the years, as they grow together you can easily divide them and relocate to other parts of your landscape to create additional borders or gift to your neighbors.
5) Butterfly Bush
Color all summer long while attracting beautiful butterflies – that’s why it’s called the Butterfly Bush. Ours do double duty. Every year consider a couple of butterfly bushes to fill backyard containers instead of annuals. We like keeping them in containers near outdoor seating areas to watch gorgeous butterflies come close. Since Butterfly Bush is a perennial you can plant them in the garden for their return next season.
We hope you enjoy these 5 gorgeous and colorful plants. Let us know what you like to include in your landscape in the comments or on our Facebook Page.
