Many of us think of fall as the end of the growing season – a time for picking up and packing away our gardening efforts. But actually, fall brings with it spectacular, living color unmatched by any other season of the year. From the changing leaves and colorful shrubs to late flowering perennials, berries and nuts, fall offers a full palette of color.

Plants that are plain and ordinary during spring and summer, like witch hazel, can take on a completely different look in fall. And while we tend to think of reds, oranges, and golds, fall can also be full of striking purples, deep blues and a variety of other colors in every shade. Planning the right combination of these colors and textures can open up a whole new season of landscape beauty for your home. Just a few of the tree, shrub and flowering options include:

FOR RICH BERRIES IN RED, BLUE AND BLACKS:
• Aronia or chokeberry
• Callicarpas
• Heavenly bamboo
• Firethorn
• Viburnums

FOR A TOUCH OF GOLD:
• Ash trees
• Calliopsis (annual)
• Crimean linden tree
• Goldenrod (perennial)
• Lady’s mantle (perennial)
• Royal azalea shrubs

FOR INTERESTING FALL STEMS OR BARK:
• Kerria
• Winter jasmine
• Paperbark maples
• Red twig dogwood
• River or white birch

FOR STRIKING PURPLES AND BLUES:
• Purple-leafed plum
• Purple smoke bush
• Purple-leafed hazelnut
• Michaelmas daisies
• Autumn crocus

FOR VIBRANT REDS::
• Japanese maples
• Sourwood tree

OTHER AUTUMN FAVORITES IN A VARIETY OF COLORS:
• Sugar maples
• Chrysanthemums
• Autumn clematis
• Ornamental grasses
• Joe Pye weed
• Lobelia
• Sedum “Autumn Joy”
• Oak-leaved hydrangea shrub