Highlighting the Fall Garden

If your garden or balcony is showing signs that you overlooked planting for fall colour, don't despair, there are some marvellous plants available right now at the garden centre that will simply delight you. Ask a certified Gardening Professional to show you the complete range. He or she will be able to advise you on what will look good in your garden, and also provide you with all the necessary information for keeping them looking great for many weeks to come.

Belgian Mums (Chrysanthemums)

These are no ordinary chrysanthemums. Belgian mums are extremely sturdy and more hardy than all other varieties. The abundance of flower buds is quite phenomenal. On average we are counting over 400 per plant. Just imagine what a picture this will make when planted at the entrance to your home. You’ll find visitors will never cease to be amazed by this floriferous mound of long-lasting colour highlighting your entranceway. These Mums also look great in containers and extend the flowering season long after other flowers have faded.

There are several types to look for:

Decorative - these Mums have button-like heads; Daisy - these have more of a shaggy look; and a type referred to as spider, which is self-explanatory.

Some tempting varieties you will find at the garden centre this year are:

Chrysanthemum ‘Red Temptress’ - Very early blooming - Daisy type (Red)

c.‘ Terano’ - Early blooming - Decorative type (White)

c. ‘Alcala’ - Mid blooming - Daisy type (Pink)

c. ‘Tarlino’ - Early blooming - Spider type (Yellow)

c. ‘Carpino’ Late blooming - Decorative type (Purple)

Ornamental Cabbage/Kale

Another great plant for colour at this time of the year, and one that exhibits even richer colours after a touch of frost, is the Ornamental Cabbage or Kale. I say that this is the fall blooming plant that Cullen Gardens made famous. Imagine a flowering plant that looks its best in mid November!

This aristocratic member of the cabbage family displays highly colourful, frilly leaves of creamy white, through to pink, purple and red with an outer coat of green. Although it is edible it is usually grown for the rich colours that make such a bold statement at this time of the year when other plants are reclining into dormancy for the winter. Great in containers and flower beds, and especially impressive when grown en masse, for example in the show gardens at Weall & Cullen Gardens & Miniature Village in Whitby at this time each year. Visit www.cullengardens.com for more information.

Some varieties to look for would be Red, Pink or White ‘Osaka’ Cabbage and Red, Rose or White ‘Nagoya’ Kale.

These showy, colourful plants of the brassica family would also look great in an empty spot in the vegetable garden where they can stay until spring. During this time you can select pieces to garnish food for the dinner table, or even include them in a centrepiece decoration. Definitely certain to create an unusual topic of conversation amongst your dinner guests.

Hardy Asters

Although asters are native to Canada, the popular common name Michaelmas Daisy was derived from an English Church festival called Michaelmas occuring September 29th. Due to the late blooming of this flower in September it became adopted as the common name for all cultivated fall-blooming asters. The botanical name aster is derived from the Greek word ‘star’ and these flowers certainly add a bright, starry cheerfulness amongst the quieter shades of autumn, displaying masses of daisy-shaped flowers with yellow centres in tones of pink, blue, purple, red and white.

Look for the following when shopping at the garden centre this year: ‘Judith’; ‘Sunny Almog’; ‘Frida Ballard’; ‘Thyra Viking’; ‘Celeste’; ‘Patricia Ballard’; ‘Prof. Kippenberg’; ‘Jenny’; and ‘Winston Churchill’.

Asters are best grown in rich moist soil in a sunny location, allowing room for good air circulation. This will ensure that your plants will not be vulnerable to powdery