Each season, our plant buyers seek out the most beautiful and interesting plants from our local growers. Our annuals and perennials departments are filled with gorgeous foliage and blooming plants for fall and winter, so we asked our buyers which ones are their favorites. Here’s what’s catching their eye.
Take a look at our companion post, Fall Favorites: Trees & Shrubs, too!
Perennials
Aster
Cheerful Asters are one of the prettiest fall-blooming perennials. Some varieties have blue to purple blossoms while others have small, starlike white blossoms with pink centers. Bees and butterflies adore them and they look beautiful when planted with Russian Sage and perennial grasses.
Echinacea
If you’re looking to add pops of bright color to the garden, Echinacea is a perfect choice. These long-blooming flowers come in an array of tropical tones and they also attract pollinators.
Evergreen Grasses
Evergreen grasses add interesting textures to the garden throughout the year and look dramatic when planted en masse. Try Deschampsia, Carex, Juncus, and, for extra drama, Black Mondo Grass.
Deciduous Grasses
The seed heads of grasses such as Northern Sea Oats and Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass add beauty late into fall and our local birds will often eat the seeds or use the downy fibers for nesting! Striped Porcupine Grass (Miscanthus) and Japanese Blood Grass offer great movement and color for the fall garden before dying back in the winter to reappear the next spring.
Japanese Anemone
The graceful nodding flowers of the Japanese Anemone add classic elegance to the garden. Choose from pure white flowers, rose-pink flowers, or white flowers with lavender tones on the back of the petals. Enjoy blooms well into fall!
Ornamental Sage
Ornamental Sages thrive in sunny, well-drained spaces and are bee magnets! Try Hot Lips Sage, which never fails to delight with its two-toned red and white flowers. For cooler tones, Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia - not a true sage) and May Night Sage have tall spires of lavender and dark purple blooms, respectively, and are majestic in the late summer and fall garden.
Sedum
Sedum, available in a dizzying array of shapes, colors, and sizes, is great for those dry, sunny areas that need a worry-free plant. Aptly named Autumn Joy (above left) is a standout for its rose-colored flowers that last long into autumn and fade to a beautiful copper tone.
Spring-Blooming Bulbs
We have our best selection of spring-blooming bulbs in the fall, which is when they should be planted. Choose from an amazing selection of bulbs: snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, and more! Bulbs planted in the garden may come back year after year. If you plant your bulbs in containers, transplant them into the ground the next fall or start fresh with new bulbs since bulbs in containers rarely bloom again if left in pots. Learn now to create a multi-layered spring bulb pot.
Annuals
Chrysanthemum
While Chrysanthemums aren’t grown as a perennial here in the PNW, we couldn’t leave them off a list of great fall plants. These flower bombs of color are just what you need for fall containers that brighten up our grey days.
Pansy & Viola
Who doesn’t love cheerful pansies and violas? They come into their own in the cooler weather of fall and spring, helping to freshen up fall container gardens and fill in bare spots in garden beds. In fact, they are one of the few flowers that bloom reliably throughout the year!
ORNAMENTAL CABBAGE AND KALE
Ornamental cabbage and kale are excellent for adding color in the fall garden. Try replacing annuals that have finished blooming with mass plantings of these attractive foliage plants. They also do well in containers, either alone or mixed with other fall perennials and annuals.
Florist Cyclamen
Florist cyclamen are an easy way to add a pop of intense color to late-summer and fall containers or garden beds. These diminutive beauties can also be brought indoors when the temperatures cool to below 40 degrees and grown as houseplants.
Updated for 2024