The long summer is nearing an end. Cooler days are on the way. As we move into the late summer to early fall season, several great flowering plants that have been biding their time all season show up for their bloomin’ debut.
With the first good rain in late summer to early fall, oxblood, or schoolhouse, lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) push up through the fried remains of the summer landscape, showing off their miniature amaryllis-like blooms. The blooms soon fade, and thin, strappy foliage appears to replenish the bulbs until dying back with the return of warm weather in late spring.
About the same time, the spidery red blooms of spider lily (Lycoris radiata) emerge. I like to think of them as a mini fireworks show celebrating the end of summer. Their foliage also follows the blooms to replenish the bulbs for another performance next fall.
Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida), a perennial relative of our garden marigold, forms a mounded plant 2-3 feet in height. In fall, a multitude of small yellow, single 1-inch blooms appear on upright stalks. The leaves have a distinctive, pleasing anise-like scent similar to those black licorice jellybeans. No herb garden should be without one.
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Another relative of marigolds is copper canyon daisy (Tagetes lemmonii). This sprawling plant produces a 3-foot tall mound of finely cut foliage with a very strong citrusy-pine scent. In fall, it explodes with a profusion of single bright yellow 1-inch blooms, which are a great source of nectar for several species of beneficial insects.
The dark green foliage and upright form of Philippine violet (Barleria cristata) make it an attractive plant. In late summer to fall, the real show begins, as its upright stems load up with an abundance of purplish-blue flowers. A white blooming form is also available. Mulch well to protect the plant’s base over the winter.
Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) makes fall worth waiting for by putting on quite a display of either all purple or purple and white bloom spikes atop large mounded plants with grey-green foliage. Although I grow it for its late-season burst of bloom spikes, its lance-shaped silvery leaves and mounding habit provide an attractive addition to the landscape throughout the growing season. “Santa Barbara” is a more compact variety.
Another fall blooming salvia is mountain sage (Salvia regla), a small subshrub type plant whose reddish-orange tubular blooms are a hummingbird magnet.
Fall aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) is a low subshrub perennial that loads up in fall with 1 1/2-inch lavender purple flowers with yellow centers that steal the show. Provide it good soil drainage, and avoid lots of fertilizer or overwatering. Fall aster is another magnet for several species of beneficial insects.
A relative of our southern hibiscus, confederate rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) is a shrub/perennial that reaches 7 feet or more in height. In late summer and fall, 4- to 6-inch wide one-day-wonder blooms emerge white in the morning and darken to pink at noon and crimson in the evening. We’re on the line between where it dies back as a perennial and where its aboveground parts remain to continue growth next spring.
Flowering senna (Cassia corymbosa) is a large shrub that loads up with bright yellow blossoms in the fall. It can be freeze-killed farther north in the state in some years, but is generally hardy in our area.
Chrysanthemums are perhaps the best known fall-flowering perennial, but not all thrive in our area. One that can be made at home here is the variety “Country Girl,” also known as “Clara Curtis,” which produces single 3-inch daisy-like pink blooms but has a bit of a sprawling growth habit that requires some tending, too. It prefers a spot with partial sun and dependable soil moisture.
Lastly, there are vines that save their best for late summer to fall. Consider the sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) with billows of white blooms; the rampant coral vine (Antigonon leptopus), with pendant clusters of pink or white blooms that keep many species of bees well fed late in the season; and desert, or pink, trumpet vine (Podranea ricasoliana) a sprawling, arching plant bearing clusters of pink blooms with burgundy markings in the fall.
Many of these fall bloomers are triggered into blooming not by shorter daylengths, as is commonly assumed, but by the longer nights as we move into fall. Why the distinction? A streetlight or home security light coming on to break the long dark period into two shorter ones can fool them into thinking the long nights have not yet arrived. Take care to not locate such plants near night lighting.
Robert “Skip” Richter is the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Horticulture Agent for Brazos County, 2619 Texas 21 W., Bryan, Texas 77803. For local gardening information and events, visit brazosmg.com. Gardening questions? Call Skip at 823-0129 or email rrichter@ag.tamu.edu.