Brian Minter: Makeover your patio with fabulous fall foliage
Credit to Author: Aleesha Harris| Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 18:00:04 +0000
As we slip into late September, it really begins to look and feel as though a new season is in the air.
With the arrival of fall, do our homes and patios reflect the rich beauty of autumn? Unfortunately, what we often see is a lot of tired summer plants and containers that badly need a refresh.
When it comes to fall decor, I’m always surprised at the difference between Eastern and Western Canada. In the East, especially in the suburbs of Toronto and other cities, whole neighbourhoods embrace the beauty of autumn with porches decorated with straw bales, cornstalks, gourds and pumpkins. In the West, not so much.
With our Canadian Thanksgiving in early October, why not embrace our brief fall season with some fun outdoor decor? Today’s look, however, has changed from the more traditional to a cool new style.
Fall grasses in containers are big right now, especially the early flowering varieties. Bunny tail pennisetums are wonderful, as are the dwarf miscanthus like ‘Yaku Jima’. Some of the panicums, especially varieties like ‘Hot Rod’ and ‘Northwind’, also have autumn toned foliage and flowers.
The new andropogons like ‘Red October are also magnificent. I love the motion they provide, even with the slightest breeze. All are hardy for winter, but even if you have annual grasses, like the stunning dark foliaged ‘Purple Fountain’, they often hold their beauty into late October and beyond.
Colourful ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ Echinacea combines beautifully with grasses for a stunning fall display.
To enrich their patio displays, many folks are combining late perennials with these grasses. The new ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ echinacea and the many stunning rudbeckias are among the best. Further accessorized with a few pumpkins, gourds and big heritage squash and you will have a striking combination. Fall garden mums, too, help ratchet up the wow factor. Orange pumpkins, however, are becoming passé and in their place are the many new white and pastel pink, blue and yellow pumpkins, which create a very modern look.
Big hay bales are being replaced with the smaller half bales now being produced by some innovative farmers. If kept dry, they make a nice platform on which to stage some creative displays of large and small grasses, gourds and pumpkins. For an added novelty, I love to finish off the look by poking twigs into the bales. Just a tip: Make sure you enclose your hay or straw bales with a blanket or cover sheet when transporting or you will leave a trail of straw behind.
Unique foliage, like Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’, is a mainstay of autumn containers.
Now for containers. Let’s say goodbye to all the old, spent and drooping annuals and instead autumnize with a combination of evergreen perennials and colourful foliage, topped off with a pop of colourful fall mums and winter pansies.
At this time of year, foliage is everything. I look for tall, skinny shrubs, like ‘Sky Pencil’ holly for an eye-catching focal point. Narrow Irish yews work well too, especially the gold forms. Add some vibrant euonymus like ‘Silver Queen’ or E. ‘Aureo-Marginata’, or some ‘Rainbow’ leucothoe or Leucothoe axillaris with its red tones. Colourful, compact nandinas fit in well, as do spillover evergreen grasses, like carex ’Evergold’ or my new carex favourite, the hot lime ‘Everillo’.
Evergreen Euphorbias come in numerous varieties and add real interest to an autumn container.
Evergreen perennials, like euphorbias, especially ‘Ascot Rainbow’, make nice additions to the whole mix. Incorporating some driftwood and twigs of birch or shrub dogwood creates a sophisticated look and act as nice supports for mini LED lights, which you can turn on when we lose our evening light, allowing you to stretch out your enjoyment. Hanging baskets need to be transformed as well into an entirely different display. Low and trailing perennials blended together can make a magnificent show. Centre your baskets with richly coloured heucheras and side dress them with winter-hardy companions, like golden lysimachia ‘Goldilocks’ (golden creeping jenny), muehlenbeckia (green wire vine), bright variegated ivy and of course, carex grasses, like ‘Evergold’, ‘Everillo’, ‘Eversheen’ and ‘Everest’.
The ground cover, ajuga, particularly the ‘Black Scallop’ variety, and low Cotoneaster dammeri, especially if it has berries, will add interest to any combination. Again, it’s also fun to twig your baskets with colourful branches and to add lighting for a real conversation piece.
As we transition into a time of reduced daylight, cooler weather and inevitable rain and snow showers, this type of patio makeover will not only warm up your outdoor living space, but it will also lift your spirits. Let’s celebrate the new season.
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