Blooms to Enjoy in the Fall
Fall is near
We have made it to September! Those of us who love the change of seasons have been thinking about the coming of fall for quite some time and it officially starts this month. Here at Yew Dell, things in the gardens are starting to show signs of the end of the growing season. The annuals from spring are huge and many of the spring and early-blooming perennials are becoming ugly and brown, and some are already dormant! But there is still another round of garden beauty just starting to show up. Our fall-blooming perennials are just starting and they are a breath of fresh air after the hot summer season. The goldenrods (Solidago sp.), asters (Symphyotrichum sp.), glossy false sinningia (Hemiboea sp), toad lilies (Tricyrtis sp), and more are just reaching maturity and starting to bloom.
Hardy Garden Mums
There is one group of plants we have become excited about during the last few years- the hardy garden mums (Chrysanthemum). These are not the perfectly round things you see on front porches in pots in the fall. Those are a commodity crop grown by the millions across the country to primarily serve as a seasonal decoration. The ones we are excited about are truly hardy and come back year after year- often with even more beautiful blooms. Most of them are a single flower (not a pompom) and look similar to the shape of a daisy. They are incredible pollinator plants and you will see them covered with pollinators during the late fall in our Millstone Garden and Lower Pavilion Garden. Many of these mums will not start blooming until October and some will continue well into November!
‘Raspberry Sorbet’
(Garden Mum)
‘Brandywine Sunset’
(Garden Mum)
‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’
(Garden Mum)
Hardy Mums
at Yew Dell.
Sources and Inspiration
We have collected a good number of these over the years from different sources. One of our favorites is ‘Springhouse Red’ from Richard Weber, owner of Springhouse Gardens in Nicholasville, KY. The biggest addition of varieties to our collection came from a trip to Atlanta in November of 2022. Searching for horticulture hotspots in the city, Jacob Stidham, our Director of Horticulture and Facilities, came across Oakland Cemetery just southeast of downtown. There were hardy mums in full flower EVERYWHERE on the property. It was certainly a sight to behold. During the visit, Jacob was able to acquire seven varieties from the cemetery’s small nursery operation and bring them back to Yew Dell where they were planted out in the nursery. This summer they were propagated and will be ready for sale during our Fall Plant Sale on September 29!
