BBC Gardeners' World star Joe Swift has named nine plants that will add a splash of colour to your garden this autumn, from late-flowering perennials to grasses that turn incredible shades. Writing in The Times, Swift highlighted that while trees and shrubs often steal the limelight at this time of year, numerous perennials put on a striking display at ground level, and certain grasses will "turn incredible shades".
Why autumn deserves attention
Swift is a passionate advocate for autumn; it is, in fact, a season he actively seeks to "target" and "celebrate", though he readily admits that his seasonal planting is far from meticulously planned. He says he'll "embrace" any clashes that crop up.
"Perhaps changes in gardening practices - such as not cutting back until late winter or early spring - means that we now see other qualities in the perennials as they fade," he wrote. "Sure, those that go mushy in autumn (such as hostas and lupins) are best tidied up, but others carry seedheads that, while black by now, add arty silhouettes to a border, especially when they are backlit."
The nine plants to brighten borders
The first plant is Arkansas bluestar, a variety of amsonia that Swift describes as renowned for its "wonderful" autumn colour, featuring purpley-brown seed pods and slender leaves that turn a vivid yellow.
Chestnut-leaved Rodgersia is a herbaceous perennial that reaches 1.2-2m in height, with shades including bronze, green, and subsequently copper and burgundy. Elephant's ears "Overture" are hardy and thrive in the shade, starting as a green shade before turning red in winter and growing up to 40cm.
Barrenwort "Cupreum" is a rhizomatous perennial that is clump-forming and provides "elegant" foliage with coppery red-brown shades. Hardy blue-flowered leadwort is low-growing, extending to 30cm in height, and produces rich blue flowers in summer, with leaves that become red or purple in the autumn.
Perennials and grasses for seasonal interest
Bowman's root is described by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) as a "bushy, upright perennial" with red stems and bronze-green leaves, which become a "warm" orange, red and bronze in autumn. Stonecrop "Matrona" is, in Swift's words, "a drought-tolerant perennial with fleshy green leaves and strong red-purple stems. Broad clusters of dusky pink flowers mature into attractive rusty seedheads."
Little bluestem is a "densely-tufted" perennial grass with blue-green leaves, displaying silvery reddish-brown shades in summer before becoming orange, copper, red, and purple in autumn. Japanese forest grass features green foliage and green summer flowerheads, developing rich bronze and golden hues at this time of year; Swift notes it thrives in moist, well-drained soil, though it will cope with drier conditions once established.
