The well-tended autumn garden can delight with a wonderful display of colour before winter sets in. The autumn garden can be rich with flowers, the colours much deeper than the pastel shades of spring; calendulas and marigolds, dahlias, showy chrysanthemums and Michaelmas daisies all making a contribution.
Two types of flowers are seen in autumn. There are the real autumn flowers and then the summer flowers that have lingered on. There will be a few annual larkspurs, scabiosas, busy lizzies, lobelia and others still making a showing. Clematis paniculata is an autumn blooming vine and white Japanese anemones will appreciate a backdrop of rich red Virginia creeper.
Japanese anemones are one of the most desirable autumn flowers and they flourish in cool, half-shaded places which are often difficult to populate with suitable plants. They can look lovely amongst ferns.
Of the small plants, cyclamen and winter flowering pansies stand out in the autumn. Cyclamen come in a range of rich reds and also white with its variegated leaf. Cyclamen are frost hardy but appreciate a sheltered spot. The winter flowering pansies have striking colours, some are of a single colour, whilst many others are multi-coloured.
Bluish lilac heathers make excellent autumn container plants and will be enhanced by mixing with ivy. Chrysanthemums flower prolifically over a period of several weeks and make a bold contribution to an autumn colour scheme with their rust and gold flowers amongst other colours. And intensely coloured dahlias in their many varieties will beautify any garden until the first frost strikes.
