Fall brings along shorter days and cooler temps. For gardeners, the summer harvest is followed by a planting of fall-friendly vegetables and flowers. It is best to look for early maturing seeds for fall gardens. Additionally, choose now to plant your daffodil and tulip bulbs in time for a spring showing.
Vegetables that Love Fall
Many quick-shooting vegetables thrive in the weather of autumn. For your dinner table, you’ll be blessed with many crops of greens and root vegetables. As for your salad bowl, plant the following leafy greens in fall:
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Arugula
- Kale
- Bok choy
- Mustard greens
- Asian greens, such as mizuna and tatsoi
- Chinese cabbage
- Kohlrabi
Other optimal fall veggies to add to your vegetable patch include red radishes, green onions, cauliflower, broccoli, and turnips. If you want to include carrots and beets in your fall garden that is fine. Keep in mind that these will likely need to be harvested while very small. However, the smaller size of these root vegetables gives them a tasty flavor. Also, since a light frost actually brings out the best flavor in these fall-friendly plants, you can continue to harvest from these plants throughout the fall season.
Flower Power for Fall
Oh, the colorful bouquet of a fall garden is to die for! This is the time when deep blue violets, golden oranges, sunshine yellows, and fiery reds come to call on everything from trees to flower petals. Look for seasonal favorites for your fall flower patch including:
- Chrysanthemums
- Goldenrods
- Asters
Additionally, cool season flowers that continue to blossom throughout the fall season include dianthus and pansies. Next year, consider planting cool season flowers during the summer for a long lasting shower of color. As an option this fall, look for potted annual plants that include:
- Pansies
- Snapdragons
- English daisies
- Calendula
- Violas
Top fall perennials include:
- Perennial sunflowers
- Sedum
- Japanese anemone
- Ornamental grasses
Bulbs in Bloom
Fall is the prime time for planting bulbs that will shoot forth by next spring. In addition to daffodils and tulips, consider planting these bulbs:
- Hyacinth
- Fall crocus
- Allium including garlic, onions, chives and leeks
- Magic lily
- Crown Imperial
- Oxalis
As for your summer plantings for fall, note that migrating birds are bound to feast on seed heads. Flowers, such as coneflowers, offer birds including chickadees and goldfinches a fall harvest, while providing your garden with feathery life. Other plants that attract and benefit migrating birds are flowers, shrubs and trees that contain berries and seeds. When organizing your landscape for the upcoming year, consider planting flowers and vegetables that you can allow to go to seed for the aid of your fine feathered friends.
