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You Can Still Plant Perennials in the Fall!

Yes, there is still time to plant Perennials! Even though the days are getting shorter, Fall is still a great time to create new or add to your Perennial gardens since the (typically) cooler temperatures mean one less thing for your newly planted varieties to deal with. Those lower temperatures also make it more pleasant for us gardeners to get back into the dirt, doing all those physical garden jobs like pulling weeds and digging to fill in any bare spots. Added bonus: fewer mosquitoes!

All Perennials need a full year of deep watering to grow and establish their root systems, so planting in early Fall is best to give your plants as many weeks as possible before frost. Dig your hole a bit deeper and wider than the plant requires, and fill in the extra space with triple mix (3/1 mix) or composted manure to really help your varieties have a healthy start in the garden.

There are plenty of options when it comes to adding some late season vigour to your garden beds. They’ll add an extra season of colour and interest to your outdoor spaces, not to mention the extra food those blooms can provide to pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to help them for the upcoming winter season. Here are just a few great options that come to mind:

Sedum (Stonecrop), Aster (Michaelmas Daisy), Agastache (Anise Hyssops), Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan), Echinacea (Coneflower), Perovskia (Russian Sage), Ascelpias (Butterfly Weed), Calamintha (Catmint), Salvia (Perennial Sage), and Lavandula (Lavender).

Garlic is another fall task. Even though garlic can be planted in spring or fall, when it’s planted in the fall it produces better heads with more intense flavour!‎ Start by picking a spot in your vegetable or herb garden, divide the head of garlic into cloves and plant them in a row about 3 inches deep. Harvest in mid to late summer and enjoy!

For your planters, consider adding some fall flowers like Ornamental Cabbage & Kale or Garden Mums. While these varieties are not hardy for our winters, they’ll last well into the fall and even handle some light frosts — plus the cooler temperatures really make their colours pop!