Fall Annuals Are Here!! - What to Plant!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! It’s hard to believe, but Fall is coming fast, and once again, we’re overflowing with the biggest and best selection of Autumn annuals around! 

If you’re new to Fall planting and looking to fill your container gardens with color and texture, then this video is for you. We’ll be introducing you to some of the most quintessential Fall favorites that you need in your planters this season. So what are we waiting for? Let’s fall in! 

Chrysanthemums

When most people think about Fall, the first flower you think of is probably Chrysanthemums, or Mums for short. Here at Bountiful Gardens, we’ve got a variety of different sizes and colors you can pick from, starting at 4”, going up to 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”—even a whopping 14 inches!  

And when it comes to colors, we’ve got them all, starting with reds, maroons, oranges, yellows, pinks, whites and more. 

A fun fact is that there are hardy Mums, meaning that they’ll come back year after year reliably and show these beautiful blooms in the Fall time. However, the mums that you typically buy as annuals are actually perennials too! As long as you plant them early enough, and preferably in the ground as opposed to a container, they’ll come back and bloom beautifully for you next year! 

Fall Asters

If you love the look of mums, but you’d like some more color options, then our Fall Asters are the plant for you. You may notice that the Asters and Mums look pretty similar, and that’s because they’re both in the same family, the Asteracea family! What sets these two apart is that the Asters come in shades of blues, pinks and purples. 

Winter Pansies

Autumn is also the time of year that Pansies return to the store! They’re extremely cold-hardy and can last all the way through till Winter, earning them the name Winter Pansies. What’s great about them is that they come in such a wide range of colors that you can add an extra splash of vibrance to nearly any container or flower bed you choose. 

Celosia

Celosia is one of our favorite Fall annuals. We love them because they come in three distinct types: there’s one that looks like a feather, one that looks like a brain, and one that looks like wheat. This relates back to their scientific name, being plumosa, cristata and spicata. 

All types of Celosia will grow very similarly, they love sun, and they do require a good bit of water. They’ll keep on blooming through our first frost! 

Ornamental Cabbage & Kale

For some hardy foliage in cooler tones, you can turn to cabbages and kales. These cold-hardy crops actually get more vibrant the colder it gets outside, making them the perfect addition to any Fall or Winter landscape. We have them in so many sizes and varieties, so there’s something for every garden. 

Ornamental Peppers

Ornamental Peppers are another quintessential Fall annual. They love sun, and they’ll last through the Winter, with their peppers providing interest. These spicy little peppers are the reason that these are wonderfully deer-resistant!

Sunbeckia

One of our favorite Fall-blooming flowers is the Rudbeckia—more specifically, Sunbeckia! Like mums, these can be perennials, but most people treat them as annuals. 

With a long bloom time and amazingly large flowers, Sunbeckia can add interesting color and texture to your garden, especially with all the varieties we carry, like Carla, Juliana, Paulina and Sarah! 

Sunbeckia is generally hardy in zones 7-10, so if you live in those zones, you can expect yours to come back next Spring! If you’re colder than zone 7, you’re probably going to treat this as an annual. 

Strawflower

One of our favorite unsung heroes of the Fall color palette is going to be the Strawflower. Pollinators love them, and so do we! They have super dry petals that make such a satisfying sound when you run your fingers over them. This also makes them fantastic for dried floral arrangements! 

Sunflowers

Another end-of-summer all-star is the Sunflower. Not only do bees absolutely love them—they also add great height and color. They even fix soil too! Their deep taproots help aerate your soil, and remove toxins and heavy metals from your property. Plus, they’ll give you a near-endless supply of fresh-cut Fall florals for the table. 

Marigolds

Another gorgeous Fall annual is the Marigold. A lot of people see these more as a late Spring and early Summer bloomer, but an amazing fact about Marigolds is that they bloom well into the Fall, with an array of beautiful Fall colors and can even survive a frost! 

Marigolds come in a large range of sizes, anywhere from 6 inches up to about four feet for African Marigolds! They have a nice, light chocolate-y scent to them that helps deter deer, so you can plant them around other plants to help keep those deer away. Marigolds also attract beneficial insects to the garden, which help get rid of pesky pests! 

Gazania

Gazania is an amazing Fall annual, boasting orange, red and yellow colors that we so commonly associate with Fall. These lovely annuals with bloom through our first frost! 

African Daisies

Osteospermum, otherwise known as African Daisies, are a sun-loving annual. They will bloom until frost, and sport these beautifully unique flowers. 

Purple Fountain Grass

Pennisetum rubrum, commonly called Purple Fountain Grass, is a fantastic addition to any Fall container. They get 2-5 feet tall, creating a feature in any arrangement. 

Chocolate Cosmos

Chocolate Cosmos are a sun-loving Fall annual that will bloom until frost, and it’s one of the more unique ones, due to its deep burgundy color. 

Millet

One of the best ways to add some height or a focal point to a Fall container is by planting some Millet. We carry all different varieties, from neon greens to deep purples, but no matter what you choose, you can look forward to plenty of beautiful birds feasting on the seedheads later in the season! 

So there you have it! You’re now ready to plant up gorgeous Fall containers to celebrate the season with color and texture. All that’s left to do is come on down to Bountiful Gardens and pick out your favorites! We can’t wait to see you!