Late-Season Garden Sensation

Autumn is when the anemones send up tall flower spikes and break into bloom above sedums smothered in flower heads of shimmering shades. Airy blue blossoms form clouds on tall spires of Russian sage. The wand flower (Gaura lindheimeri) reblooms. And autumn crocus goes crazy carpeting the beds like a groundcover. In the bird garden, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate grows eye-level high, and amaranth plumes produce reddish-purple seed heads, to the delight of winged passersby. The nicotiana is still going strong, and echinacea is in its prime. Add in the flowering kale and the ripe edible cabbages, and there's plenty to please both palette and palate. Even the lacy flower stalks of spent asparagus turn bright yellow before browning. Myriad ornamental grasses are in tassel and plume. And then, on top of it all, surrounding trees and shrubs blush with their fall colors, including stewartia, maples, and winterberries.

Shown: Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (Polygonum oriental), flowering amaranth, and ageratum soften the bench in the bird garden, with winterberry on the side.