Cabbage Pink

Cabbage White

Croton

These tropical plants look like October in a pot.  The showy leaves are patterned with gold, orange, red and purple.  Use a big one by itself on the front porch, or combine smaller plants with mums and ornamental grasses.  Keep them out of afternoon sun and bring inside before the first frost. 

Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums, or just mums, are big, bold, and inexpensive.  They become available in late August when the summer annuals are past their prime and just a few dollars can brighten a tired patio or flower bed.  Be careful to keep them well watered while the flowers are opening.  Flowers last for six to eight weeks.  Yellow is the most popular color, but they also come in pink, lavender, orange, and red.  The darker varieties perform best after the nights cool.  Mums are hardy perennials that will come back and bloom every fall in the perennial border.  However, most people plant them in high traffic areas and swap them out later for pansies or spring annuals.

Mum Deep

Pink Daisy

Mum Orange

Mum Red

Mum Yellow

Diascia

Diascia has masses of small flowers and a trailing habit.  It looks good tumbling out of mixed containers and baskets. Diascia will bloom heavily through fall and the milder days of early winter, be green during the coldest weeks, and start blooming again in early spring. Apricot and lavender-pink are available. 

Dusty Miller

Dusty Miller is a biennial plant grown for its soft gray leaves that contrast with the dark green foliage and bright flowers of pansies and other plants. The foliage stays attractive all winter. The following summer it will grow up to 2 feet tall and have yellow flowers on tall stems. It dies in the fall after flowering. 

Grass

Many ornamental grasses put on a show in the fall. Some have showy leaves such as variegated miscanthus or zebra grass.  Others have red or bronze flower heads.  Hameln dwarf fountain grass, Yakushima dwarf maiden grass, and Karl Foerster feather reed grass all grow about 3 feet tall and have showy flower heads above bronze foliage. Try them as the centerpiece of a large container with mums and crotons.

Grass - Zebra

Kale Peacock

Kale Pink

Kale Purple

Kale Red Bor

Kale White Peacock

Cabbage

Ornamental cabbages have leaves that are shaped like big rosettes.  In the center they are white, pink, or purple.  The colors are brighter in cold weather.  The Osaka variety can grow up to 18 inches across, while little Pigeon is small and great for containers.

Grass - Pennisetum Hamlen

Kale

Winter kale comes in both edible and purely ornamental varieties. Red Bor has vibrant dark purple foliage with a mild flavor. The leaves are thick and curly. Italian Blue kale or dinosaur kale is an heirloom variety with silvery blue leaves. Japanese varieties like Peacock and Nagoya are usually grown just for looks. They have large rosettes of curly leaves with white, pink, or purple centers.  The color is more vibrant in cold weather.

copyright 2009 The Barn Nursery

The Barn Nursery  •  I-24 at the 4th Avenue exit  •  Chattanooga, Tennessee  •  423-698-BARN