Fall Flowers 

If you're dreading the end of summer because it spells doom for all your beautiful flowers, dread no more.  To extend landscape color through the fall season, plant some of these varieties! 

1) Mums – mums are everyone's “go-to” solution for keeping the flower beds vibrant in the fall. They come in dozens of colors, so you can put them anywhere without worrying about how they'll impact the rest of your landscape.  They can be easily planted in pots on the porch or landscape beds to add color all over the yard.  Mums are very hardy plants and will keep flowering until about mid-November.  Buy plants that are full of tightly-clustered flower heads that haven't started to open yet. Put them in a sunny spot and keep them moist as they flower. 

2) Ornamental Cabbage and Kale – though people think of these plants as flowering, it is actually their leaves that provide the color and beauty.  Put them together in large plantings to show off their color, which develops best after frost. Buy plants that have short stems to prolong their growing season.  Kale is a drought-tolerant plant, but don't skip the water for too long or they will get stressed. 

3) Asters – this plant is very hardy and appears more daisy-like than mums. They are most commonly available in purple, white, and pink hues.

4) Pansies – a popular choice;  they're very colorful and last much longer into the cold weather.  Plant them now and enjoy them until the heat hits next summer. They'll get a little wilted when temperatures drop below freezing, but will perk right back up as soon as the sun works its magic.

 No matter what type of flower you choose, you can add some great color to your yard and keep your outside spaces inviting.  Before too long they will all be covered in white!