Colorful Fall!

Just because it's fall and your flowers have stopped blooming and you may not be mowing your lawn as much doesn't mean there isn't yard work that can be done.

Your yard during warm weather might have had beautiful colorful flowers that have now died. Don't fret! You can have a colorful autumn yard too. Probably the most well known flower to plant in fall is chrysanthemum. When they stop blooming and begin to die back, cut the dead stems to just above the ground. Put some mulch around the roots. In the spring when they start sprouting, wait til they get about six inches tall. Then pinch with fingers or use sharp snips to cut the plant to two or three inches high. Repeat this until mid-July each time the plant gets about six inches tall. This will give you a bushier plant in fall. Otherwise your plant will be tall and leggy and not have as many blooms. Chrysanthemums come in a large variety of colors like the yellow ones we had one year that are pictured below.

Another burst of color for your yard would be nandina. There are three nandina bushes in my yard. The one in our back yard (pictured below) is huge and a deep red color. They can grow to eight feet tall and four feet wide. I'm pretty sure ours is about that size. There are also dwarf varieties. Nandina berries are loved by birds. There is also a lemon lime nandina that has yellow toned leaves. Fall is a good time to transplant bushes and trees. Make sure you dig a large root ball when transplanting and transplant right away or as soon as possible.

Now that most flowers have gone to seed, I pinch seed off and save for next year in case I want to plant in a different spot or share seeds with someone. I make sure the seeds are dry and put them in small baggies and label. If I clean up the dead foliage such as the morning glory vines on my fence, I pinch the seeds off and let them drop down on the ground. I've always had good luck with morning glories coming back the following year.

Another way to add color to your yard that doesn't require hard work is having garden flags! Flagsrus.org has lots of fall flags and other fall decor. Take a look HERE!