Down To Earth

Fall favorites burst on the scene

By Kristin Green
Posted 9/17/17

The first time I got a nose-full of ragweed pollen and sneezed 16 times; the first crisp-apple day and sweater-weather evening; the first time I bit into an actual crisp apple, and saw mums for sale, …

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Down To Earth

Fall favorites burst on the scene

Posted

The first time I got a nose-full of ragweed pollen and sneezed 16 times; the first crisp-apple day and sweater-weather evening; the first time I bit into an actual crisp apple, and saw mums for sale, I lodged a small complaint. Where did summer go?! Never mind that we had our first taste of fall back in August, as we always do. The seasons are definitely in transition now.

The calendar still calls this summer but the sun is sliding south and the light is becoming more golden by the day. The air, even on hot days, has an edge to it. And the plants that have been busy growing legs are beginning to do their dance. I hate feeling like I missed a single moment of summer but I always look forward to September. More and more for every late blooming plant I add to the garden.

Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’, also known as Virginia sweetspire, blooms in June so shouldn’t qualify as a late bloomer. And yet. I planted it, as most do, for its showy fall foliage and have been looking forward to its moment in the spotlight. Last week sweetspire entered stage left turning yellow, coral and its namesake jewel, and caught the slanted light like stained glass. ‘Henry’s Garnet’ only grows 3- to 6-feet tall, a perfect height for a mixed border; ‘Little Henry’ is even shorter. Both want full sun, soil on the moist side (though my Henry seems to tolerate drought and benign neglect) and will spread, but not willy-nilly. For best effect, place sweetspire between you and the sunset.

For some reason I confuse sweetspire with fellow native Clethra alnifolia, also known as summersweet (maybe that’s why) and sweet pepper bush. Clethra’s leathery foliage doesn’t perform any magic tricks besides turning yellow a nano-second before going brown much later in the fall. Nonetheless, its flowers have been knocking socks off for weeks now — that is, if the “what is this crazy plant that smells like lilac?!” questions I have gotten are any indication. I tucked my Clethra ‘Sixteen Candles’ where it would be happiest within reach of my rain barrel’s soaker hose (like sweetspire, summersweet wants moist soil) but in too much shade to flower profusely, so I need reminding to stick my nose near its scant creamy-white panicles. This year, a walk along redolent hedgerows on Cuttyhunk was a sublime cue. (There’s nothing like seeing a great garden plant growing wild in its natural habitat.)

It’s also possible I don’t notice my summersweet’s spice because my nose is too full of Clerodendrum trichotomum (harlequin glorybower), which has a heady enough perfume to bust through clogged nasal passages at twenty paces. It’s almost too much for me — I regret placing it at my living room window — but it’s a handsome plant, easily pruned for size and shape in spring (it blooms on new wood), and visiting hummingbirds scold their reflection in the glass. It gets even better: turquoise berries, held within waxy red calyxes, follow the flowers. This Asian introduction has a suckering spread and has been known to self-sow as well. But don’t worry. They’re easy enough to manage and your friends will all want one.

Speaking of spreading, over the last few years I have watched a healthy clump of hardy ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum, a native perennial) work its way from where I placed it in the moist soil at the back of my rain barrel bed to the sunnier front. And I couldn’t be happier to see a September eruption of blue buttons front and center. In fact, this summer, as I noticed the plain green patch of quilted foliage grow to block my view of shorter neighbors, I couldn’t wait for it to bloom. Which, now that I think about it, makes me wonder if summer would have felt longer if I hadn’t been so impatient to enjoy my fall favorites.

Kristin Green is the horticulturist at Mount Hope Farm and author of 'Plantiful: Start Small, Grow Big with 150 Plants that Spread, Self-Sow, and Overwinter'. Follow her blog at trenchmanicure.com.

Kristin Green

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