Fall Color
Chrysanthemums (Mums)
Affectionately known as “mums”, Chrysanthemum flowers are synonymous with the shorter days & cooler temperatures of autumn. Their blooms come in all the best shades of fall – fiery reds, sunny yellows & oranges, pure whites, and even deep purples. For landscapes, containers, or even indoors, mums provide the showiest display of the season. A great excuse to grab another cut-flower vase!
Garden Mums (Perennial)
Garden Chrysanthemums are grown as perennials and perform well in Louisiana landscapes. Their flush of blooms provides total coverage unlike any other fall flower. You can find multiple flower types, but the multi-color and tri-color mums are what gets the most interest.
Acclimate them to direct morning sun for even fuller displays, and deadhead spent blooms as they appear, With regular watering, you’ll can keep garden mums alive and well.
Floral Mums (Florist)
Floral chrysanthemums make each and every flower count, producing blooms worth of any dining room vase. Doubles and tri-colors are just the start, as new varieties are being rolled out every year that improve hardiness, bloom size, and just about everything else.
These mums have been grown for indirect (indoors) light conditions, so we stock them all in our greenhouses. However, I’ve heard more than a few stories of brave plant parents getting floral mums from the windowsill to the porch and even some morning sun after over a year.
Crotons
Fall flowers move aside for fall foliage! Crotons are eye-catching tropicals bursting with autumnal colors. They’re popular year-round as a houseplant but fit perfectly in the landscape from September – November. Our two featured varieties, Petra and Mammy, offer unique foliage to suit your style.
Petra boasts broad leaves painted with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, strikingly bright even from the road. Mammy, on the other hand, features long, narrow leaves that twist and curl, displaying a rich mix of green, yellow, red, and even pitch-black in a mesmerizing pattern.
Ornamental Peppers
Nothing else on this list plays off the concepts of fall-harvest and the traditional autumn colors as well as ornamental peppers! These compact plants are loaded with vibrant, eye-catching peppers in shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple, but new varieties are pushing the boundaries with black & purple variegated foliage and multi-color fruits. More popular every year, ornamental peppers are earning their spot in fall landscapes & container plantings right alongside their traditional bedding flower counterparts.
Marigolds
We love marigolds as summer flowers, but those yellows & oranges seem tailor-made for autumn! Louisiana’s extended warm season means months with excellent performance and bloom production, plenty of time to appreciate them before the first frost. From the compact growth & multi-color flowers of French marigolds to the giant plumes that head the stalks of 4’ tall African marigolds, this underrated pick deserves your attention for fall planting!
Fire Bush Hamelia
This Louisiana Super Plant features plentiful red and orange flowers with yellow and green variegated foliage. In full sun, you may see blotches of red appear on the tops of leaves. We love firebush for fulfilling a very awkward role in Louisiana landscapes: summer-in-to-fall. It has excellent heat-tolerance and a fall color palette as valid as any. As an added bonus, this herbaceous perennial is a fall hummingbird magnet!
Ornamental Cabbage, Kale
Embrace the cool-season beauty of ornamental cabbage & kale. These hardy plants aren’t just for dinner anymore – they bring a unique texture and color palette to your fall landscape. Best of all, their colors intensify as the temperatures drop, providing long-lasting interest throughout the fall and even into winter.Petra boasts broad leaves painted with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, strikingly bright even from the road. Mammy, on the other hand, features long, narrow leaves that twist and curl, displaying a rich mix of green, yellow, red, and even pitch-black in a mesmerizing pattern.
Turk's Cap
Native plants are some of the easiest to care for and that’s no different with Turk’s Cap! The twisted red flowers standing bright against the dark green foliage is like a great big target for all our favorite pollinators, including butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Plant anywhere in full sun to part shade to add some life to your fall flower beds!