What kind of plants should you plant in the fall?

[lucypevensie]

I'm working on getting some plant/flower beds going on the west side of the house. It gets a lot of sun. What kinds of plants do well if you plant them in late summer/fall?

 

[Philip]

Where do you live? Do you know your USDA zone?

 

[lucypevensie]

I live in SE Wisconsin (milwaukee area, 100 miles or so north of Chicago). I don't know the zone. Our soil here is VERY clay-y. When it's wet its like modeling clay, when it's dry it gets rock hard. I have had little to no success with annuals.

 

[BeanMak]

I would suggest doing some work on the bed before you try to plant anything. I am your southern neighbor ( just north of Chicago) and we have clay too. fixing clay soil
By mixing in a couple of bags of peat, and compost, you will do much better with anything that you plant there next year. I also added some sand to the soil to make it aerate better. At the nursery near my house, they sell stuff called Clay Buster. It is the proper mix of all of the above I have worked a couple of bags into the beds in the spring a couple of years running, and now I have great soil to grow just about anything.

Day Lilies will do well on the west side of your house. It will be hot there in the summer. If you plant them in fall, next year they will be lovely. Black eyed Susan, shasta daisies, are perennials that does well in hot sun. Roses would do alright, if you prepare the soil and are willing to water regularly. A lilac bush would do well there too.
Good luck with your green thumb!

 

[BeanMak]

I found this too:
Plants for Clay soil

 

[lucypevensie]

Great! Thanks for the info. I'll look at those. I have day lilies at the side of the garage which also faces west. I didn't plant them, though, they were there when we moved here.

 

[BeanMak]

If you have day lilies, next spring it will be very easy to dig some of them up, and transplant them to the side of the house. If they have been there for more than a couple of years, they are ready for thinning anyway.

 

[SonWorshipper]

For something to eat from those beds try planting Brussel Sprouts, Brocolli, lettuce and spinach. If you do this in the late part of August you should get a great fall crop and have plenty of salad fixings. You can also plant peas in mid-august and harvest a fall crop of those too. Radishes and Califlower like cool growing temperatures as well.

 

[JohnR7]

For something to eat from those beds try planting Brussel Sprouts, Brocolli, lettuce and spinach.

That is it, those are your winter crops. If you build a inground hot box and throw some compost in there to generate a little bit of heat they will grow all winter.

Also there are some plants, like violas that are pretty cold hardy down to about 20 degrees. They do not handle the mid summer heat to good though.

 

[lucypevensie]

Ah, I bet that's why my violas died last summer. No amount of water could keep them alive--probably just plain too hot.

 

[goodgirl]

you can plant bulbs in fall.. tulips, daffodils, etc.

 

[Job24]

I just like buying a bunhc of MUMS and setting them up with a bunch of pumpkins and fresh cut corn stocks.... I love the fall

I live in CT (New England) so the autumn is awesome up here... I love to go up into the northern states....and look at the foliage... ahhhhhh

 

[Icystwolf]

Orchids, esspecially Laelias, Cymbidiums, Australian Dendrobiums, Schomburgkias, Sun tolerant Cattleyas...and try Dendrobium Victoria Reginae or Hercoglossum......those two asian dendrobiums are AMAZING!!!

My Hercoglossum has started to spike, and I think my Victoria Reginae is beginning to push out some flowers.....

 

[SnowOwlMoon]

Trees and shrubs transplant well in the Fall. So if you have the space, now is the time to put in camelias, rhododendrons, roses, viburnums, blueberrys, huckleberries, crabapples, and flowering cherries. A witch hazel would do well, I think, and will bloom in late winter or very early spring. There are also some very early blooming camelias and rhododendrons--but check with your nursery for cold-hardiness. "Christmas Cheer" is a rhody that here in the Pacific Northwest will bloom in February, sometimes as early as January. It is more sun tolerant than most rhodies--but don't know if it will survive your Wisconsin winters. You will do better with cherries and roses there, than we do here (too wet in the winter here).

There are a lot of bulbs that can be planted in the Fall--tulips, daffodils, anemones, colchicum, crocus. Bulbs are marvelous--you can have flowers almost every month of the year with bulbs!

 

[Pete S.]

No need to wait till spring for most perennials! Fall is the perfect time to plant. For deciduous shrubs or trees, wait till after they go dormant (after the leaves are gone, but before the ground is frozen.) There is no transplant shock at this time of the year, since they are dormant and winter's freeze/thaw cycle settles the plants in nicely. They will also bloom sooner next spring, since they don't have to contend with recovery from transplant shock. Your daylillies can also be divided after the leaves die back-just use a spade and cut the clump in half, right in the ground, move the clump(s) where you wish. Most any perennial will fare well. Another advantage is that the garden centers practically give the stuff away this time of year because it's tough to tell a customer that dead-looking plant will be beautiful 4 or 5 months from now.

Amending your heavy clay soil with peat moss and compost is the way to go. How much do you put in? The rule of thumb is "as much as you can afford."
One more little known fact is that fall is the time to spread lime. It takes several months for the lime to do it's job, so your grass will actually get the full benefits in the spring, when it actually needs it.