Foresighted gardeners have a lot to do in autumn: They are now planting all the plants in the ground that will produce magnificent flowers and a full harvest next season. Above all, the perennials and bulbous flowers that bloom very early in the year, and that's what we're talking about now:
Must or can be planted in autumn?
There are actually no plants that can only be planted (must be planted) in the fall. You can plant any plant that lasts more than one season in the garden, balcony box or container during the entire period that the ground is not frozen. Almost the entire time, the ground must already be sufficiently warmed up, it should not be extremely hot, and the first frost should not be imminent either. However, if you want to see beautiful flowers promptly, you would need plants grown earlier in the current season, which costs money, so the clever gardener takes precautions: Among the perennials (which also include bulbous plants) and woody plants that are hardy and persistent and plants that can be planted in autumn are plants that are best planted in autumn:
Perennials that are still adorning in the planting season but will soon complete their above-ground growth for the current season. They are placed in nice, warm soil in autumn, where they can take root well until winter, while the plant at the top needs less and less energy. From next spring, these plants can start growing magnificently with full force. In addition, all perennials, bulbous flowers and trees that bloom particularly early or particularly richly must be planted in autumn if you want to see abundant blossoms next spring:
Perennials
1. Spring blossom for the garden bed
In the fall, all perennials that bloom very early in the spring must be planted so that they have a rich abundance of flowers the next season. These perennials are fastest in spring:
- Adonis amurensis, Amur Adonis floret
- Asarum canadense, Canada hazelroot
- Asarum europaeum, native hazelroot
- Asarum splendens, Chinese hazelwort, needs protection in winter
- C altha palustris var. alba, White marsh marigold
- Corydalis solida 'GP Baker', Fingered Larkspur
- Cyclamen coum, spring cyclamen
- Draba aizoides, hunger flower
- Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii, Mediterranean spurge
- Glechoma hederacea, Gundermann, Gundelrebe
- Hacquetia epipactis, gold plate, umbel
- Helleborus argutifolius, Corsican hellebore
- Helleborus foetidus, stinking hellebore, palm leaf snow lily
- Helleborus niger, Christmas rose, snow rose
- Helleborus orientalis, Lenten rose
- Hepatica nobilis, native liverwort
- Hepatica transsilvanica 'Alba', Transylvanian liverwort
- Petasites fragrans, fragrant butterbur, winter heliotrope
- Primula denticulata, ball primrose
- Primula elatior, sky key
- Primula rosea 'Gigas', rose primrose
- Primula vulgaris, cushion primrose
- Primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii, carnival primrose
- Primula x pruhoniciana 'Herzblut', carpet cowslip
- Pulmonaria angustifolia 'Azurea', lungwort
- Pulmonaria Hybride 'Trevi Fountain', Spotted Lungwort
- Pulmonaria officinalis, Lungwort
- Pulsatilla vulgaris, Pasqueflower, Pasqueflower
- Saxifraga x apiculata 'Gregor Mendel', Saxifrage
- Stevia rebaudiana, sweet herb, honey leaf
- Trachystemon orientalis, Rauling
- Viola odorata, scented violet
- Viola Odorata hybrid 'Mrs. Pinchurst', March violet, large flowers but no odorata (fragrance)
- Viola sororia 'Smokey Mountains', Whitsun violet
- Viola suavis, Parma violet, the real one, for a bluish glow on white laundry and perfume
2. Particularly richly flowered perennials and trees
In addition, all perennials and trees that have been bred to bloom particularly richly must/should be planted in the fall. If they had to root themselves in the spring, the flowering for the current season would be pretty poor.
3. Perennials that still bloom in autumn
If you like to have atmospheric autumn flowers in the garden in autumn anyway, you can plant perennials that bloom in summer and until October, so you can combine autumn decoration and planting the flower beds for the next season.
bulb flowers
Bulb flowers are herbaceous and long-lived plants and are perennials, but they occupy a special place in our consciousness. They should, not just because they have a lot to offer, but because you can really mess up bulb flowers if you just plant them sometime in the warm season. Bulb flowers can still cope with the development of the complicated bulbs and their daughters if they are planted in spring instead of autumn, but then there is often not enough time for them to bloom. Especially with the spring bloomers among the bulb flowers, it is important that they are planted in the fall. These bulb flowers also appear in the plant trade right on time at the beginning of the autumn season (and often inappropriately earlier for discounters who are more profit-oriented than professionally oriented).
Here is a list of the earliest spring bloomers that you absolutely have to plant in autumn:
- Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades', blue-flowering spring anemone, one of the first signs of spring
- Anemone blanda 'Charmer', spring anemone with bright pink flowers above dark foliage
- Anemone blanda 'White Splendor', spring anemone with pure white, large, radial flowers
- Anemone nemorosa, wood anemone
- Anemone nemorosa 'Bracteata Pleniflora', double anemone
- Anemone ranunculoides, yellow anemone
- Anemone x lipsiensis, Leipzig bush anemone
- Chionodoxa forbesii 'Blue Giant', snow shine in blue
- Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant', snow shine in pink
- Chionodoxa luciliae, snow shine, lavender blue flowers with white dot in the middle
- Chionodoxa luciliae 'Alba', snow shine in pure white
- Corydalis solida 'GP Baker', Fingered Larkspur, flowers in stunning red
- Corydalis solida ssp. solida 'Mix', fingered larkspur, flower mix in purple, red, pink, white
- Crocus chrysanthus 'Ard Schenk', White Crocus
- Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty', Balkan crocus, cream yellow with bronze yellow throat
- Crocus chrysanthus 'Prins Claus', snow crocus, white and purple on the outside
- Crocus korolkowii, Tashkent crocus, golden yellow, bronze-colored flower on the outside
- Crocus minimus 'Spring Beauty', tiny crocus with purple flowers with dark feathery exterior
- Crocus sieberi ssp. sublimis 'Tricolor', crocus, shows flowers in purple, white and yellow
- Crocus tommasinianus, elf crocus with lavender-purple flowers
- Crocus tommasinianus 'Roseus', elf crocus with purple-pink flowers
- Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant', elf crocus, purple-purple flowers
- Eranthis cilicica, winter aconite, golden yellow flowers
- Eranthis hyemalis, winter aconite, bright yellow flowers with a great scent
- Erythronium dens-canis, dogtooth, flowers purple-pink, leaves marbled blue-green
- Galanthus elwesii var. elwesii, large-flowered snowdrop
- Galanthus nalis, snowdrop
- Galanthus nalis 'Flore Pleno' and 'Hippolyta', double snowdrops
- Iris histrioides 'George', dwarf iris, purple-violet
- Iris histrioides 'Lady Beatrix Stanley', dwarf iris in cob alt blue
- Iris hybrid 'Katharine Hodgkin', dwarf iris, light blue flowers with green-yellow shimmer
- Leucojum vernum, Märzenbecher, spring knot flower, blooms pure white with green
- Muscari azureum, grape hyacinth, flowers sky blue
- Muscari azureum 'Album', white grape hyacinth, flowers pure white
- Narcissus 'Arctic Gold', trumpet daffodil, blooms golden yellow, the classic daffodil
- Narcissus 'February Gold', Cyclamineus daffodil, with golden orange trumpet
- Narcissus 'Ice Follies', large-crowned daffodil, creamy white, crown delicate yellow
- Narcissus 'Manly', double daffodil, pale yellow, center golden
- Narcissus 'Mount Hood', trumpet daffodil, ivory white
- Ornithogalum balansae, milk star, pure white flower
- Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica, Puschkinia, flowers white with blue central stripes
- Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica 'Alba', Puschkinia, flowers pure white
- Scilla bifolia, two-leaved squill, violet-blue
- Scilla bifolia 'Rosea', two-leaved squill, soft pink
- Scilla mischtschenkoana, Caucasian squill, pale blue with darker central stripes
- Scilla siberica, squill, flowers bright blue
- Scilla siberica 'Alba', squill, flowers pure white
- Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Early Harvest', water lily tulip, orange-red
- Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Heart's Delight', water lily tulip, pink with yellow center
- Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Ice Stick', water lily tulip, white, yellow, dark pink
- Tulipa polychroma, white dwarf tulip with yellow center
- Tulipa turkestanica, gnome tulip, flowers ivory white with yellow center
You can get everything that “just blooms” earlier if you bought bulb flowers from a hasty dealer in the middle of summer. However, this usually has a negative effect: the flowers could be smaller, half-finished, or appear at the wrong times next season, but at some point the bulb growth will settle down.
There are bulb flowers that, in addition to flowers, also give a tasty harvest, they should also be planted in autumn:
- Allium fistulosum, winter hedge onion, distinctive green-white flowers, delicious onions
- Allium ursinum, wild garlic, delicious green leek in the earliest spring, a little later the wonderful white carpet of flowers appears
- Allium sativum, garlic, attractive purple, pink, white flowers, enjoyed fresh, hardly any smell
- Allium senescens ssp. montanum, distinctive blue-green foliage, pink flowers and small hot bulbs, both edible
- Allium spec., ornamental garlic, beautiful, sometimes huge flower balls, flowers and young foliage taste delicious, many varieties
- Camassia quamash, edible prairie lily, purple flower, the onion tastes good roasted, fried or fried in butter
- Crocus sativus, saffron crocus, nice purple flower, the pistil threads used as a spice are currently worth around €5000 per kilo
- Ipheion uniflorum, star flower, white flowers that taste like “garlic chives” like the leaves
- Muscari comosum, crested grape hyacinth, deep purple flowers, small onions taste good deep-fried or pickled in oil
Planting edible bulbs at the wrong time will damage the crop. The onion plant begins to grow powerfully during the planting season, producing mini leeks etc., which go into the winter too young and freeze. Bulb flowers that are harvested should develop in the right rhythm, then the harvest will taste good.
Conclusion
In autumn, a forward-looking gardener has a lot to do, because now all the long-lasting plants are planted that will show magnificent flowers or bring in a fully ripe harvest in the next season. You can also cultivate many of these perennials, bulbous flowers and small trees on the balcony and terrace in boxes or pots; the frost-hardy plants that are native to us or have been naturalized for a long time are all pleasantly undemanding and easy to care for.
