The Green Thumb

By Cheryl Doyle Kearns

Ahh, fall … a time to enjoy the beautiful foliage on crisp, clear days, take in the N.C. State Fair, cheer on your favorite football team, and get ready for the holidays … after sowing new grass, mulching, raking leaves, completing garden clean-up chores, and adding more plants to the landscape. Fall is one of the most pleasant times to be outside, and there is always something to do in the garden.

If your grass has bare spots or if you are starting a new lawn, September and October are the optimum times to plant fescue, either by seeding or with sod. For those who want to wait and establish a warm season grass, plant rye – a great winter cover crop that can be tilled under for extra nourishment in the spring. Now is also the time to replenish mulch, especially around newly planted or frost-tender plants. Compost raked leaves and the remains of flowers cut down by frost.

Because the ground is still warm, fall is an excellent time to add new plants, especially trees and shrubs. Plants will start to develop a root system as they head into a dormant period. If you noticed gaps in the hedges this summer, now is the time to fill them in. A dose of superphosphate and regular watering, critical even through the winter months, will get your new plants going.

Many of us are familiar with the beauty of the red or sugar maples so famous in fall foliage pictures of New England, and our maples here can produce striking colors too. As they are everywhere, many of the larger species of maples are fickle when it comes to how well they color up. However, for brilliant fall foliage in your garden, you might plant a full-moon maple (Acer japonicum), known for consistently displaying a range of green, gold, and orange hues in one leaf. Multiply that by hundreds of leaves for a magnificent show on a small tree which eventually reaches 20 feet. Placed where it will receive up to a half day of morning sun in ordinary soil with good drainage, it will reward you for years.

Another favorite Japanese maple is the coral bark maple (Acer plamatum “Sango Kaku”), also a small tree whose coral branches are enhanced by the buttery yellow of fall leaves that look magically translucent when backlit by the sun. One of the oldest trees on earth, the ginkgo (Gingko biloba) is also one of the surest for color, dressed in bright yellow.

Dwarf burning bush (Euonymus alata “Compacta”), aptly named for both its fiery red foliage and the shiny red fruit left after the leaves fall, is another striking shrub which grows 6’-8’ tall. Not quite such a bright red, but nonetheless beautiful, is the rich royal burgundy of the native Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica). Both shrubs can take full sun to part shade, but sweetspire can handle moist spots better and will spread by roots to make a thicket.

Looking ahead to the holidays, try adding Aucuba to shady spots for its red berries. Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) will provide reddish-orange or yellow berries. Other berry producers for flower arrangements are firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), beautyberry (Callicarpa species), and of course, some of the hollies (Ilex species), both evergreen and deciduous. For holiday bouquets, add a Camellia sasanqua “Yuletide” to your landscape and impress visitors with the bright red flowers from your own garden.

While we usually associate fall color with woody plants, there are some perennials that add to autumn’s riot of color. Speedwell (Veronica pedunculairs “Georgia Blue”) and plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) offer striking red fall leaves at ground level and bluestar (Amsonia hubrechti) enhances mid-level borders with bright yellow. Fall-blooming ornamental grasses such as the purple muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries) or Miscanthus cultivars provide additional color and height to borders with their blooms, ranging from purple and deep pink to bronze-reds and creams.

The cool days of October and November are also an excellent time to plant bulbs. Dreaming of the vivid kaleidoscope that will appear from late winter into spring always makes me buy almost more bulbs than I can plant. The variety of bulbs is overwhelming, but there are some old favorites that make even the brownest thumb look emerald green. Among them are daffodils marketed as “naturalizing,” meaning they spread into large clumps without any aid from the gardener. Daffodils, being poisonous, are untouched by rodents or above-ground browsers, and thus are repeat bloomers for years. Generally speaking, the shorter the daffodil, the earlier the bloom, so some will appear almost at the same time as another old reliable – the winter crocus.

For those new to planting bulbs, other no-fails are grape hyacinths and tulips. The grape hyacinths will send up foliage in fall once established, and bloom in early spring. Planted en masse, they form a bright blue carpet about 6” tall.

Tulips, the “Queens of Bulbs,” are often treated as annuals because they need long, cold winters. Bulbs purchased this fall will be pre-chilled for next spring’s bloom, but in succeeding years, many won’t flower. If they do, they may have blooms an inch or so out of the ground instead of on the elegant long stalks one expects. Species tulips, however, are good for several years of bloom. These are generally short and earlier to bloom than the elegant, later tulips. For extra punch, the beautifully striped leaves of Tulip greigii (“Red Riding Hood”) and Tulipa fosteriana (“Juan”) complement their flowers.

If you aren’t sure which is the top of the bulb, don’t worry … bulbs have a knack for seeking light, so they will “right” themselves. As for how deep to plant, the rule of thumb is three times the depth of the bulb. Since they don’t need light during the summer, bulbs can be planted in areas shaded by large trees like oaks and maples.

For the holidays, you can enjoy fragrant paperwhites if you plant them in light soil six weeks ahead of when you want blossoms. You can also simply lay them on top of stones in a bowl and ensure that water covers their roots. Amaryllis and crocus bulbs, too, are colorful and easy to force inside. The paperwhites and crocus will have used too much energy to bloom another year outdoors, but you can plant the amaryllis outside in a semi-shady spot in spring after the ground warms up to enjoy in future springs.
Fall chores can become fall fun when you imagine the beauty of the garden in the future!

Cheryl Doyle Kearns is a member of the Garden Writers of America. She frequently lectures on gardening topics and teaches horticulture through Wake Technical College’s evening program. She is the perennials buyer for and does landscape design work through Martin House and Garden in Youngsville. In her spare time, she tends a garden of unusual and rare plants at her home in Franklin County.