Fall Color Ahead
There’s no denying that fall color in New England is a sight to see. In addition to mother nature’s magnificent foliage display, there are many ways to add bold splashes of color to your fall landscape. By this time of year summer annuals are waning, but it’s easy to enhance your outdoor palette with plantings and container gardens in rich autumn hues. There are no right or wrong colors to use for your garden design – just think about the colors that you like most. What fall color are you? 
Bright Marigold
Beautiful and Bold – gold adds richness and warmth to everything around it. It will certainly catch your attention. In addition to being associated with luxury, gold is the color of wealth, status and success. Gold and orange flowers radiate positive energy and signify endless possibilities. They bring a message of hope and friendship.
Marigolds resonate the warm hues of fall – varieties cover the spectrum from gold and yellow to orange and red. Marigolds are drought resistant and tolerant of heat and pests. Many gardeners plant them next to their vegetables because their scent to keeps away bugs and pests and their roots deter harmful worms. In Central and South America marigolds are sacred. They are used to decorate household altars to celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day
Other flowers with warm golden fall color include rudbeckia, helenium, and varieties of dahlias and mums.
Sunflower Yellow
Yellow radiates cheerfulness and happiness. In the psychology of color, yellow is uplifting and illuminating – it symbolizes knowledge, optimism and hope. Yellow pairs well with bright orange and blue, its complement on the color wheel. If you have hydrangeas that bloom well into fall, try pairing them with yellow fall annuals.
When you have a small, narrow area to work with, yellow will increase your sense of space. It will brighten up dark, shaded areas and illuminate your gardens at night. Yellow flowers are cheery and exude positive energy.
Besides sunflowers, you can add fall color to your garden with varieties of mums, pansies, violas and black-eyed Susans.
Kale Green
The color green relates to balance and harmony; it is the color of growth, prosperity and abundance. While green is not the typical fall color for, there are ways to add more green to you autumn garden. Besides evergreens, most of the greenery in your landscape is transitioning. For cool season ornamental beauty, flowering kale – and cabbage – are good choices. Not only do they bring interesting color to your containers and garden beds, they require very little care. As the season gets cooler, the color of the inner rosettes intensifies in varying shades of white, purple and green.
People that love green tend to have a love of nature. Green evokes strong feelings of family, friendships, love of pets and home.
Hortensia (aka Hydrangea) Purple
Purple has long been associated with success and royalty. By nature, it demands attention and more often than not gets it. Apparently, Hortensia is another word for Hydrangea, so Pantone chose to use the French name for its color swatch. Hydrangeas in the fall will display varying shades of this magnificent color. To add violet hues to your fall color you can choose varieties of pansies, roses, asters, coneflowers, sage, alyssum and dahlias.
Purple will add a sense of depth and contrast to your landscape. It mingles well with yellows, pinks and deep reds. Purple creates the impression of luxury and wealth, but it also represents imagination and dreams.
Wild Aster
The color magenta evokes welcoming and friendly feelings. It helps create harmony and balance while encouraging compassion. Although it’s a bold color in your garden, magenta mixes well with other pinks and purples. Asters come in a variety of colors, magenta and purple being the most common. However, there are other ways to add this cheerful fall color to your garden. Sedum turns to deeper shades of magenta as the weather gets cooler. Varieties of mums, celosia, dahlias, amaranthus, cosmos and dianthus will fill in nicely as well.
Chrysanthemum Pink
There’s no doubt that the Chrysanthemum, aka mum, is the king – rather queen – of fall flowers. Mums come in a rainbow of colors, but Pantone has lovingly chosen a pink hue for its namesake. In the psychology of color, pink is a sign of hope – it’s positive, warm and comforting. Exposure to pink can halve a calming effect.
The hardiness and versatility of mums make them the go-to flower for both container and in-ground plantings. Other pink blooming flowers include varieties of asters, roses, dahlias, verbena, Japanese anemones and sedum.
Red Dahlia
It is a well-known fact that red is the color of love. It is warm and positive, associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive. Red in your garden can be tricky because it’s such a dominating color, but it definitely grabs your attention. Who doesn’t love red roses? In terms of fall color, our eyes immediately turn to the red foliage in the treetops. However, in the garden we can turn to the ever-popular dahlia and varieties of mums to get our red on. Other fall reds for our flower beds and containers include celosia, canna, red salvia and dianthus.
For a rich look, pair red flowers with deep purples. To get a bolder effect, pair with bright orange or cornflower blue. Either way, red will energize your garden.
Need Help?
Whether you’re a business or a homeowner, if you would like help sprucing up your property for the fall, Cole Landscaping will be happy to help you with your color scheme.
