Autumn in the garden can get a bit dry and brown if you don’t plant the right things. Many annuals that we plant in spring have faded in the summer heat. Do not worry; some beautiful annual flowers will bloom right up until the first frost.
Your first frost date will depend on where you live, but in general, these dates usually fall between mid-October and late November. Many of the same flowers that bloom in spring will also enjoy the cooler temperatures of those crisp fall months.
If you look around your local nursery, you are likely to find some of these annual flowers still in stock for planting and blooms before your first frost. If not, in warmer climates, you can grow them from seed if you start in August and September. Let’s take a look at some cool weather, and fall blooming beauties.
Shock Wave Purple Tie Dye Petunia
Shock Wave Purple Tie Dye Petunia Seeds
Lemon Drop French Marigold
Lemon Drop French Marigold Seeds
Chief Red Flame Celosia
Chief Red Flame Celosia Seeds
Geranium Maverick™ ‘Scarlet’
Geraniums make wonderful container plants, and they enjoy the cooler temperatures of autumn. Intense summer heat can have your geraniums looking leggy and dry. Once the cooler months come back around, give these lovelies some extra TLC, and you’ll see them bounce back.
The Maverick™ series is compact and humidity tolerant, in addition to being exceptionally floriferous. Scarlet is an ultra-saturated red geranium with warm undertones. In warmer climates, you may be able to keep this alive over the winter. In cool climates, expect to get to that first freeze date, possibly beyond if you keep watering to a minimum.
Petunia ‘Purple Tie Dye’
Petunias bloom from spring until the first frost, reliably, as long as you keep them watered. They may pause in summer because of intense heat, but they will bounce back for a big fall bloom with the right care.
‘Purple Tie Dye’ is a funky and fun variety with splashy purple and white blossoms. They are great for containers, hanging baskets, or the front of the border. This variety has a spreading habit, so it trails nicely. The colors may change with the cooling weather.
Marigold ‘Lemon Drop’
Delightful marigolds are a low-maintenance annual flower that you can rely on to bloom right up to that frost date. They light up garden beds and containers with their cheery yellow, orange, and red blooms. It’s easy to collect the seeds and plant them again in the spring.
‘Lemon Drop’ is sweet as candy with ruffled, lemony-yellow petals and fernlike foliage. You can directly sow seeds throughout the warm season or start indoors during the summer for strong plants in the fall. They germinate best between 70-80°F (12-27°C).
Nemesia ESCENTIAL® ‘Blackberry’
Nemesia really should get more attention in my opinion. These fragrant wonders will keep color in your beds from spring to fall, and they smell amazing. In cool climates, they need a lot of light, but in the summer heat of warm climates, afternoon shade is best.
You can propagate nemesia indoors over the winter using cuttings from the past year. The Escential® series are hybrids with exceptionally fragrant blooms. ‘Blackberry’ has gorgeous, deep violet petals with a blush toward the center, which has a small white accent.
Celosia ‘Chief Red Flame’
You may know celosia by its nickname, cockscomb. These flocked and fuzzy flowers have been popular in the United States for centuries, and are related to amaranth. They are long-lasting as cut flowers and in the garden.
Plant these in spring, and you’ll have color in your beds right up to that first bit of freezing weather. Pollinators will love the large flower heads, and songbirds will enjoy the seeds in winter. ‘Chief Red Flame’ is especially bold and beautiful with large, crimson blooms.
Snapdragon ‘Orange Wonder’
Snapdragons are a favorite in my cutting garden. Here in Zone 9, they survive the winter like champions. They prefer cool temperatures and bloom beautifully in fall and spring. Not only will they last until the first frost, but they will withstand temperatures into the 20s without dying back (~-7°C).
‘Orange Wonder’ is a name that doesn’t do this variety enough justice. The flowers are a perfect blend of apricot and peach with a touch of pink at the base. They are simply perfection. In Zones 5 and higher, they are perennials, so they will come back in the spring even if they die back in winter.
Calendula ‘Pacific Beauty’
Calendula, also known as pot marigold, is a pollinator favorite that also happens to be frost tolerant. Not only will it bloom all through the fall, it will continue on down to about 20°F (-7°C). It blooms quickly, so there is plenty of time to directly sow this in the garden right into the cooler months.
‘Pacific Beauty’ produces a blend of orange and yellow, double-petal blooms. The flowers are edible and often used in medicinal preparations to heal burns and scrapes. They also make a nice tea. Give them plenty of sun and enjoy these well into the winter.
Nasturtium ‘Black Velvet’
Nasturtiums are fully edible and all parts of the plant have a pleasant, peppery flavor. They look lovely trailing from containers and bloom from late spring until the first frost. Plant these where they will have light shade in the afternoon for best results.
‘Black Velvet’ is like no nasturtium you’ve seen before. Gorgeous, velvety, deep red flowers mingle with bright green, rounded foliage for a breathtaking display. Direct sow these as soon as you feel a chill in the air, they germinate best in cooler weather.
Alyssum ‘Rosie O’Day’
Alyssum is a perennial in Zones 5 and warmer, though it won’t be as attractive in its second year. For this reason, most gardeners grow it as an annual. It’s a low-growing pollinator favorite that makes a stunning, fragrant border and a nice filler or spiller in container arrangements.
Add some ‘Rosie O’Day’ to your borders for a pop of purple. This All-America Selections award winner is sure to please. Sow in spring or fall, they are cold tolerant down to 28°F (-2°C).
Bidens ‘Goldilocks Rocks’®
Bidens are so pretty and versatile; it would be a shame to leave them out of the autumn garden. These long-blooming flowers are great for pollinators, and though they are small, they are plentiful.
Bidens come in several colors, and they are all lovely, but I love the yellow ones most. ‘Goldilocks Rocks’® is a wonderful golden variety that adds a lot of color and complements the autumn palette beautifully. They are perennial in Zones 9-11 and grown as annuals elsewhere.
Calibrachoa ‘Pink Lace’
In terms of floral abundance and vigor, calibrachoa is a real champion. Its low, dense, mounding growth habit makes it a good candidate for borders and baskets. It makes a stunning spiller in container arrangements as it will trail over the side densely.
If pink tickles your fancy, ‘Pink Lace’ is a perfect variety. An abundance of candy pink blossoms cover this annual from spring to fall, looking like tiny petunias. It is pest and disease-resistant, as well, so it’s nicely low-maintenance.
Phlox ‘Cherry Caramel’
Phlox comes in many forms, including both annuals and perennial flowers that bloom from spring until frost. They are pollinator favorites and smell lovely. You may see a lull during the hotter months, but the cool autumn weather should bring them bouncing back to full vigor.
‘Cherry Caramel’ is a divine variety that is on the taller side, so it’s a perfect addition to the cutting garden. The wonderful beige blooms have a touch of black-cherry burgundy in the center. These go great with a soft, neutral color scheme or a minimalist garden.
Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’
For color for three seasons, verbena can’t be beaten. This sturdy, little annual is a great addition to the pollinator garden, and looks great in containers, too! In Zones 6-10 it is an evergreen perennial, but north of that it won’t survive the winter.
‘Homestead Purple’ is a very popular variety, so it’s easy to find and very colorful. The purple flower clusters are plentiful and brighten up the fall landscape. In cool weather, verbena is drought tolerant, and it self-seeds nicely.
Zinnia ‘Mazurkia’
Zinnias always plays a starring role in my cutting garden. They are exceptionally heat tolerant, and they stand up to cool weather, too. It’s so easy to directly seed these in your beds, and they self-seed, so you might see them pop back up in the spring.
‘Mazurkia’ might be difficult to pronounce, but it’s super simple to grow. The large blooms are deep pink with white tips that look like they’ve been dipped in white paint. They are exceptional for floral arrangements and have a long vase life.
Pansy ‘Silverbride’
Pansies are a wonderful hybrid of violas, and they have great cold tolerance. In Zones 5 and higher, they will bloom all through the winter. These are cool weather plants, so they die back in the summer, but spring and autumn weather is prime for these annuals.
There are so many beautiful varieties of pansy it’s hard to choose just one. ‘Silverbride’ is a Swiss giant variety, which means the flowers are large, and they are a lovely color combination. Deep purple petals have snow-white borders and a yellow eye.
Bachelor’s Button ‘Blue Boy’
Bachelor’s buttons, also known as cornflowers, are dainty, low-maintenance, cool-weather bloomers. A mass planting will fill the garden with brilliant blue blooms for weeks. When planted in the spring, they are summer bloomers, but a second sowing in late summer will give you a bounty of fall flowers.
‘Blue Boy’ is the quintessential, cornflower blue bachelor’s button variety. These brilliant blues positively glow against the fading autumn garden in its bronze glory. The blooms are edible, and they make a nice addition to the cutting bed as well.
African Daisy ‘Zion Copper Amethyst’
African daisies are flashy, little sub-shrubs and big bloomers during the cooler weather in spring and fall. In cool climates, these annual flowers will bloom from spring right to the first frost. In warmer climates, give them a bit of afternoon shade and baby them in summer. They may stop blooming but will resume in autumn.
If you’re looking for an extra colorful display, ‘Zion Copper Amethyst’ is gloriously flamboyant. The daisy-like flowers fade from purple in the center to bronze at the tips of the ray petals. These annuals are sturdy, drought tolerant, and bloom continuously for a long period.
