Fall Flowers: 16 Annuals and Perennials That Are Not Chrysanthemums

We don’t hate chrysanthemums. Let’s just get that out of the way. There is a lot to be said for their instant, impulse-buy autumnal cheer. A pot on the stoop (with a pumpkin or two), as the clock ticks towards Halloween, is welcoming. But muffin-top mums, rounded and mounded in a way that nature did not intend—left to their own devices, naturally-elegant perennial chrysanthemums are leggy and loose—have saturated the market. Their inescapable presence as October unspools makes it very easy to forget how many other flowers relish autumn.

The list of fall flowers is long, so here is a choice (albeit biased) collection.

Photography by Marie Viljoen.

Celosia

In terms of commercial success, annual Celosia is beginning to nudge chrysanthemums off that front stoop. I see potfuls at my local deli in Brooklyn, at Whole Foods, at the market. Their rich, cockscomb colors are made for fall. These African annuals have taken off in the US. Aside from their tasseled ornamental appeal, the plants are in fact vegetables. They are eaten as cooked, leafy greens in their homeland and are reminiscent of amaranth greens, in flavor and texture.

Zinnia

Zinnias are a genus of annuals native to Mexico and Central America. They are one of the most rewarding cut flowers to enjoy as the weather cools. Available in a rainbow of colors (only blues are missing), more zinnia cultivars are being developed to withstand the mildew that sometimes bothers their leaves in humid climates. The blooms attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.

Dahlia

Dahlias might be the queens of autumn bouquets. Ranging from compactly petite pom-poms to ruffled flowers the size of side plates, with colors from candy stripes to rich jewel hues, the long-stalked flowers are cut-and-come-again for weeks from late summer through frost. Dahlias are hardy from USDA zones 8 to 10.

Tithonia

After it begins to flower in late summer, Mexican and Southwestern native annual Tithonia continues to blaze with color as nights dip into the 50s. The plant grows tall (upwards of five feet) and the blooms are very attractive to bees and other pollinators.

Marigold

The assertive scent of marigolds is a floral signal that the season has changed. Days are losing light, and the year’s end is approaching, staved off by celebrations that honor souls that have passed. Garlands of marigolds are a necessity for the Day of the Dead, and have a place at Halloween tables, too: The flowers are long-lasting in a vase, and marigold petals are edible. The plants have long been valued in companion planting traditions, and science bears this out: They secrete chemicals that deter nematodes and other pathogens.

Sedum

Above its handsome semi-succulent leaves (which are juicily edible), Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ blooms for weeks in mid-fall. Its masses of starry flowers open in late summer as pale pink and gradually transform into a deeper, warmer brick-red, persisting through frost. It has a remarkable range of hardiness, from USDA zones 3 through 9.

Tricyrtis

For weeks in fall, the delicately mottled flowers of orchid-like toad lilies bring exquisite color to shaded or semi-shaded gardens. Toad lilies are hardy from USDA zones 4 to 8.

Japanese Anemone

Perennial Japanese anemones reach peak bloom in early fall. Their cupped flowers are showy, held above slender stems and shown off best when planted in groups. These easy-to-grow perennials are hardy from USDA zones 4 to 8.

Persicaria amplexicaulis

Persicarias range from unwanted weeds (like lady’s thumb), to sought-after perennial ornamentals for gardeners inspired by Piet Oudolf’s (highly managed) naturalistic sensibility. Many of his landscapes include cultivars of P. amplexicaulis (sometimes called red bistort, or mountain fleece), whose spires of pink flowers offer vertical glamor and structure in relaxed meadow-like layouts. These easy-going perennials are hardy from USDA zones 4 to 8.

Garlic Chives

Unlike most of their ornamental Allium cousins, garlic chives bloom in early fall, rather than late spring and early summer. Their loosely-structured white umbels are an airy presence in the garden and they last well as cut flowers, too. Garlic chives are hardy from zones 3 to 9.

White Snakeroot

Of all the native fall flowers, white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) is one of the most under-appreciated. It blooms quietly in woodlands, and abundantly in full sun. As a cut flower, it lasts as well as its purple cousin, Ageratum houstonium, also in the Asteraceae family. The plants are toxic to grazing livestock, but the flowers are an important food for a wide array of pollinators that include butterflies, bees, wasps, beetles, and flies, which in turn attract predators like spiders, assassin bugs, and robber flies. Bug-eating birds, migrating in fall when snakeroot blooms, find this floral larder well-stocked. White snakeroot is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8.

Boneset

Eupatorium perfoliatum in the floral equivalent of beach hair. Loose and unstructured, it is at home in a wild or meadow garden, and is guaranteed to attract squadrons of pollinators and bees. Combined with asters and white snakeroot, this humble meadow flower becomes spectacular. It is hardy from USDA zones 3 to 8.

Joe-Pye Weed

Joe-Pye weed is Eutrochium purpureum, a statuesque native wildflower whose fluffy blooms erupt in later summer and persist into fall, luring butterflies and later offering food for seed-eating birds like American goldfinches (don’t cut them back after bloom). Joe-Pye weed is hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9.

Willow-Leaf Sunflower and New England Aster

If you don’t want to see your neighbors in fall, these are the fall flowers for you. Standing between six and eight feet tall, willowleaf sunflower creates a dramatically architectural and floral hedge. This striking perennial blends beautifully with other tall species, like fall-blooming New England asters. Willowleaf sunflower is hardy from USDA zones 5 to 9 (there are many other species of Helianthus to choose from, too). This aster is hardy from zones 4 to 8.

Goldenrod

Yellow blazes of goldenrod (Solidago species) are the harbingers. They are summer’s end, fall’s arrival, and a botanical sign that cold weather is coming. With species suited to both woodland and full sun gardens, this is a perennial to plant and forget until it begins to blaze. The flowers and tender leaves are edible, and a handful of the vivid blooms light up salads, and season fall soups. Goldenrods are hardy from zones 3 to 9.

See also:

• Better Than Dahlias? Naomi Slade’s Love Letter to Chrysanthemums
• 5 Favorites: Flowers to Sow in June for an Autumn Bloom
• Fall Gardening 101: Autumn Can Be an Ideal Time to Plant. Here’s Why.