In the North, the primary fall color comes from the leaves of deciduous trees turning vivid shades before they drop. Here in the Coastal South, a wide variety of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants provide color through foliage, flowers and fruit.
Some evergreen shrubs take on new colors as chilly to cold weather occurs. The foliage of some azaleas ('Fashion' is a good example) turns bronze, purple or even chocolate during winter. Some junipers turn purple or bronze.
The most spectacular of these shrubs is the dwarf nandina ('Fire Power,' 'Harbour Dwarf,' 'Woods Dwarf' and others). When grown in full sun, their foliage turns from green with tints of burgundy to bright red, burgundy, gold, orange and scarlet in winter, then turns back to green in late spring.
Plants also provide color now and through the winter with fruit. Hollies, with their brilliant red berries, are notable. Excellent choices for our area include the popular Savannah holly and Foster's holly (Ilex x attenuata 'Savannah' and 'Fosteri'), both small trees.
A great thing about holly berries is that they are excellent food for birds. There are also shrubby hollies that produce colorful berries, such as 'Burford,' 'Dwarf Burford,' 'Nellie R. Stevens' and 'Needlepoint.'
Three beautiful native hollies are the yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), deciduous holly (Ilex decidua) and winterberry (Ilex verticillata). The yaupon possesses one of the most beautiful berries in the group. The fruit are the typical red, but are translucent. When sunlight shines through them they glow like stained glass.
The deciduous holly and winterberry drop their leaves in winter, unlike other commonly grown hollies, which are evergreen. Once the leaves fall, the bright red berries that cover the branches put on a great display.
One of the most spectacular fall-flowering plants is the golden wonder tree (Cassia splendida), which blooms from October through December if the weather stays mild. The clusters of 1-inch golden-yellow flowers almost cover the foliage, and are bound to attract attention in any landscape. The tree, which grows to be 6 to 10 feet tall, used to be hard to find at local nurseries, but now is fairly readily available.
Also blooming now are sasanquas (Camellia sasanqua). Sasanquas are one of those indispensable shrubs for our area and bloom from October well into December. Dwarf types stay under 3 feet, while standard varieties will slowly grow to 10 to 12 feet tall, and can be trained as a clipped hedge, large shrub or tree shape. The 2- to 3- inch fragrant flowers are produced in abundance and come in shades of burgundy, light red, rose, pink and white. Soon, camellias (Camellia japonica) will begin to bloom; they continue through the winter until spring.
Roses are also important for fall and early winter color. Everblooming roses are still putting on a wonderful show and will often continue to bloom through mid-December and beyond, weather permitting.
Although generally not known for their fall blooming, azaleas that bloom during seasons other than spring are becoming more popular. Particularly notable are some of the Robin Hill azaleas such as 'Watchet' and 'Conversation Piece,' the popular Glen Dale cultivar called 'Fashion' and many others. The Encore azalea series is also well known for fall bloom.
In addition to the popular chrysanthemum, herbaceous perennials such as the cigar plant (Cuphea micropetala) and red ruellia (Ruellia graecizans) also contribute to the late year floral display. Ligularia (Farfugium japonicum), an outstanding perennial for shady gardens blooming now, produces 1- to 2-foot stalks that terminate in clusters of 1-inch bright-yellow daisy flowers.
Ornamental grasses provide interesting seed heads shaped like feather dusters or plumes in shade of cream and silvery-tan that wave and dance in the autumn breezes. Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) is among the most lovely, producing cloud-like plumes of dusky rose in October and November.
Although they bloom through the summer, salvias always seem to look especially good in the fall. Two species, Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) and forsythia sage (Salvia madrensis) are outstanding fall bloomers. Mexican bush sage produces spikes of furry purple or white flowers on 3- to 5-foot-tall plants. Forsythia sage is an unusual yellow blooming salvia that makes large spikes of mellow yellow on a 5-foot plant with large, dark green, quilted leaves.
I have just scratched the surface. Look around, and you will be inspired by many other outstanding late-year performers.
Drops of color
Although decidedly less spectacular than in the North, our area does have some deciduous trees with leaves that turn colors before they drop, and this is the month it will be happening.
A few that reliably have color here include ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba -- yellow), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua -- purple, burgundy, orange and yellow) and Chinese pistachio (Pistachia chinensis -- purple, red, orange).
On the north shore, ornamental callery pears, such as the Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford'), usually color well, while on the south shore they tend to be less reliable. Generally, the farther south you live in Louisiana, the less fall color you will see.
DAN GILL'S MAILBOX
I have a question about nasturtiums. I planted a package of nasturtium seeds in a greenhouse tray and every one of the 72 seeds came up. I transplanted them into window boxes with a good-quality potting soil and placed them on our deck, which gets lots of sun. The plants are big, beautiful and healthy-looking, but there are no blooms. The seed packet says to expect blooms within 40 days of planting, but it has been more than 60 days. Did I do something wrong? The potting soil was a premium soil with time-release fertilizer.
The fertilizer in the mix is likely the culprit. Nasturtiums are light feeders, and an overabundance of nutrients causes them to grow vegetatively (leafy growth) but delays flowering. Sometimes it's better to buy a regular potting mix without fertilizer so that you can decide yourself what kind and how much fertilizer to use, when to use it or if it is even needed. Nasturtiums also bloom best in full sun, so make sure they get at least six hours of sun each day. Given time, the plants should bloom. Nasturtiums are not as hardy as most of the other cool-season annuals we grow. Protect them when temperatures below 30 are predicted.
I have two questions. Someone gave me some four o'clock seeds. Where do you plant them? Do they like sun or shade? Also, where can I find climbing roses? Can I plant them now?
Four o'clocks are easy to grow from seeds. They are a summer flower, however, so store the seeds and wait to plant them into a sunny bed next April. Climbing roses should be available for sale at your local nursery, and now is an excellent time to plant them.
Would you give me your opinion on eucalyptus mulch? I see it available locally, and I was wondering which mulch is really the best. Also, I have just planted dwarf mondo grass as a ground cover. Should this be fertilized on a regular basis, or just occasionally?
There is no one best mulch. People choose different mulches for reasons ranging from cost, to availability, to appearance, and even where it comes from (many people prefer not to use cypress mulch, for instance, because it may endanger our cypress forests). Eucalyptus is a fine mulch to use and, as is the case with all organic mulches, your plants will benefit from it, because when put on about 2 inches thick, it helps suppress weeds. As for me, I use leaves or pine straw, because I can get them for free. How often you should fertilize depends on what you use and how long it lasts. If you decide to use a typical granular, general-purpose fertilizer, for instance, put out the first application in April. Make a second application around June, or whenever the package directions indicate. You shouldn't need to fertilize more than a couple of times a year. Dwarf mondo grass is slow-growing and does not spread quickly no matter how you fertilize it, so don't expect too much. You can get it to spread faster by dividing and replanting the larger clumps every year or two.
I have some calla lilies planted about 3 inches deep. Should I worry about them freezing?
Callas are hardy in New Orleans and actually grow during the winter season. Keep the base mulched about 2 inches thick to protect the roots. If temperatures get into the teens, you should cover the foliage to prevent damage. Even if damaged by cold, however, they will recover.