How to make the most of beautiful fall plants

Autumn signals the start of the garden's slow saunter towards winter. For some plants, this is their time to shine. Here's a guide to plants that look beautiful in the Fall:

The same processes that make trees turn red and gold lead to changes in the leaf colours of some perennials and shrubs.

• As these plants sense the coming of winter, the green colouration in their leaves fades to reveal shades of yellow, orange and red.
• Forsythia will glow in a soft shade of buttery yellow, while viburnum will turn to bronze.
• Many Japanese maples that were a gentle bronze colour all through summer will turn to crimson red, and compete for your attention with the brighter red leaves of winged euonymus.
• Several perennials follow suit, turning bronze in response to long, cool nights.
• When autumn ferns, bergenia, epimedium or hardy geraniums blush bronze, any nearby plants with silvery foliage will seem lighter and brighter in contrast.
• Even though you may have appreciated artemisia, dusty miller, lamb's ears and Russian sage all summer, their platinum foliage will become breathtaking with the advent of fall.
• For all plants, autumn becomes a time of second glances. Look around for places where you can plug in the combination of the intriguing coarse texture and the kaleidoscope colours that comes with cold-tolerant ornamental cabbage and kale.
• If you're not sure where they will look best, pot each in a roomy container at least 15 centimetres (six inches) wide, and experiment with placement. Containers are especially practical in very cold climates because these plants are severely damaged when temperatures drop below about -5°C (23°F).
• Whisk them indoors when killing frost threatens, and take them outside again during the day, but do leave them out when it's chilly.
• The leaf colours of these ornamentals become increasingly vivid in response to night temperatures that are consistently below 10°C (50°F).
• Of course, don't overlook the punch of colour that cold-tolerant pansies can contribute to flower beds, window boxes and containers. They can even survive being buried in snow, emerging to bloom anew with each thaw.

The strongest fall bloomers form buds and flowers in response to the lengthening nights of autumn.

• In addition to asters, chrysanthemums, goldenrod and sneezeweed, cosmos and marigolds often clothe themselves with blossoms as days become shorter.

• Autumn crocus
• Artemisia
• Bluebeard
• Camellia
• Celosia
• Dogwood
• Dusty miller
• Geranium
• Golden chain tree
• Gomphrena
• Holly
• Honeysuckle
• Hornbeam
• Japanese anemone
• Japanese maple
• Lantana
• Monkshood
• Ornamental grasses
• Parrotia
• Red buckeye
• River birch
• Rose
• Rudbeckia
• Russian sage
• Salvia
• Silverbell
• Snowbell
• Stewartia
• Sun rose
• Sweet autumn clematis
• Tithonia
• Turtlehead
• Yellowwood

Now you can plan your backyard garden both around what looks great in Spring blooms and what looks amazing when the cool weather hits and the leaves change colours. Get ready to have the most beautiful garden in the neighbourhood -- all year round!