What to Plant This Fall

Cool-season veggies thrive in autumn’s chill, yielding a second round of homegrown goodness. Radishes are a great candidate for a fall crop because they're ready for picking in just under a month. Edible green tops withstand early frosts, and roots are safe from frosty mornings since they’re snuggled in soil. ‘Garden Party’ radish seed mix produces a rainbow of flavorful roots with crunchy white flesh. Other good candidates for an autumn veggie patch? Try peas, kohlrabi, rutabaga, bunching onions or carrots to keep your garden growing well into fall, even in northern regions.

Fall’s cool, rainy weather provides ideal conditions for tucking perennials into the landscape. You can often find BOGO deals on perennials as garden centers try to winnow the number of plants they have to overwinter. One of the best bargains you’ll find at this point in the year is dormant spring perennials. The list includes things like bleeding heart (this red one is Valentine), Virginia bluebells or Oriental poppy. When sold in fall, these plants look like a pot of dirt with maybe a few dead stems. The roots are alive and will sprout and flower in spring, but that dead-looking plant means you can usually get them for a steal.

Think spring as you plan your autumn planting. Plants that are typically sold in flower in spring can often be found at a discount in fall. Hydrangeas fit that category. This hydrangea is Endless Summer, which blooms on new and old stems. This hydrangea lets northern gardeners enjoy the lush beauty that’s typical hydrangea fare in southern zones. Hardy in Zones 4-9, Endless Summer grows 3 to 5 feet tall and wide and comes in several colors, including raspberry red, white, purple and pink.

Increase the winter interest in your landscape by adding holly shrubs. Choose a traditional evergreen type or one like winterberry, which loses its leaves to reveal jolly berried branches. Winterberry is a native plant that’s a wildlife magnet, luring birds seeking a beakful of berries in the winter. It’s a great plant to grow if you like to fill containers with mixed evergreens for winter displays. Like all hollies, winterberry holly does require a male pollinator to produce berries. Male hollies produce small inconspicuous flowers required for pollinating a female holly but do not produce berries. Seen here is Berry Poppins, a smaller variety that grows 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. Hardy in Zones 3-9.