September Blooming Perennials

This Ohio native perennial provides late-season color and structure to the landscape. They produce narrow, willow-like foliage throughout the summer, then burst into bloom in fall, providing late-season interest for pollinators and seeds for songbirds.

Also referred to as Showy Stonecrop, the perennial Sedum family contains numerous easy-to-grow, hardy, succulent varieties from groundcovers to upright, showy stonecrops. Sedum are long-lasting in dry, rock gardens and containers. In addition to their gorgeous blooms, there are a rainbow of foliage colors and variegations. Their flowers are excellent pollinator attractants, with some blooming well into October.

New England Asters provide fantastic late summer to fall color. They produce mounded foliage, covered in small, vivid-colored, daisy-like flowers with yellow centers. New varieties have been bred for excellent disease resistance, compact, mounding habit, and late-season show. They’re easy to grow in containers or in the cutting garden.

Sweet Autumn is a gorgeous flowering vine that produces small, fragrant ,white flowers in abundance in the late summer months. Like spring-blooming Clematis varieties, this gorgeous plant naturally twines around supports or can sprawl as a ground cover. It is an aggressive grower and may spread in the garden by self-seeding.

Goldenrod is an excellent source of late summer and fall color and an excellent pollinator attractant. Bushy and attractive golden yellow panicles emerge on compact, sturdy stems that are easy to fit around the front border of sunny spaces in the landscape.  Note: Goldenrod does not cause hay fever; unfortunately it often gets confused with ragweed.

This is a wonderfully cold hardy Chrysanthemum series developed at the University of Minnesota that tolerates -30 degree temperatures over the winter. This particular series develops compact, cushion-like habits that are covered with a single to doubled daisy-like flower that provides late summer to fall color. They grow well in both containers and the landscape with no deadheading or pinching needed!

Also known as Lily-turf, Liriope produces violet, grape hyacinth-type flowers amongst thick clumps of grassy foliage. Their desirable, violet blooms mature to blue-black berries in the fall. Liriope makes a great evergreen edging plant for year-round interest.

Hybrid or Japanese Anemones are delightful and dependable producers of 2-3″ wide, pink, mauve, white, single to double flowers with yellow centers that dance in the wind on long, graceful stems late summer into fall. Anemones make an excellent cut flower and also provide wonderful late-season color.