Top ten plants for October

Firstly, for late season front of border ground cover with floral impact you can’t beat this low growing woody perennial. It has red stems covered in bright green leaves turning bright red in autumn. Which look stunning up against the bright blue flower clusters that appear late summer and last until mid-autumn.

Continuing the jewel colour front of border theme these truly hardy plants look fab. Especially, dotted amongst other low growing plants. They come in a range of wonderful flower colours including pink and white.  The flowers often appear before the leaves. Which are all individually delicately marked with silver lines making each plant unique. And leaving you with a glorious winter pattern of leaves long after the flowers have faded.

Next up is a perennial that throws out long slender spikes topped with crimson-red flowers well into autumn. In addition, it is a good mid-border plant which will quickly form clumps. The flower spikes will also add great vertical interest to the overall planting scheme. Give it plenty of space to truly express itself and you won’t be disappointed.

Perennial sages are brilliant for flower borders with their long display of spiky flowers. This variety has superb deep purple-black flowers that would look fantastic paired with the Persicaria. They make great cut flowers and the bees love them too. Deadhead spent flowers regularly to trigger repeat flowering well into mid-autumn. They may need protecting during particularly harsh winters but other than that are usually frost hardy.

No late summer border would be complete without at least one type of aster. ‘Little Carlow’ is covered in masses of small blue-violet daisy type flowers with cheerful bright yellow centres from late summer well into mid-autumn. After flowering has finished, it’s a good idea to cut the stems to just above the ground. Add a layer of well-rotted garden compost or horse manure around the base of the plant to help with flowering the following year.

The ultimate in autumn glow. These spectacular large perennial plants truly light up a late summer, early autumn border. With their small daisy cone flowers in multi colour shades of burnt orange and yellow. They have mainly bare upright stems so that the flowers really are the star of the show.

For those wanting to add to an informal cottage style garden, this pretty and aptly named perennial fits the bill perfectly.  Its mat of soft foliage contrasts beautifully with long thin stems of delicate white flowers borne over a very long period from early summer into mid-autumn.

This medium size shrub is known and grown for its clusters of purple berries which appear in autumn. For this reason, it’s a good idea to consider growing several plants together to maximise the purple berry impact.  It’s also ideal to grow an early season short height clematis through it for early season interest.

Another shrub similar to Callicarpa, in that most of the year it’s inconspicuous. It benefits from having an early season flowering short climber growing through it. Euonymus reaches its spectacular peak of interest in the autumn. When most of the leaves turn vivid shades of crimson and scarlet.  As they fall, they leave behind brilliantly coloured purple/red fruits which split open to reveal a vivid orange seed in the centre.  It has interestingly marked and formed bark on its stem making it a great specimen tree in a mixed border.

Lastly, this upright annual that can grow to 4m tall is topped with multi-headed flowers. The flowers have a dark brown centre. And its blooms can range from yellows, autumnal orange, red and warm browns. What’s more is that the pollinators will enjoy it too. As the flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects as well as the edible seeds that birds can eat. Therefore, it’s the perfect addition to a wildlife garden.