Fall is planting time! Yes, you heard me right – if you want to pack your garden with loads of blooms in spring, you should act now and find a place for flowering perennials in your flower beds, borders and containers.
But which varieties of perennials should you plant in fall for a gorgeous and flower packed spring garden? Shall we meet the top 12?
1: Daffodils (Narcissus spp.)
There’s no spring without daffodils, the fragrant harbingers of the new season! One of the best flowering perennials ever, these bulbous beauties are also very easy to grow, very generous with their stunning floral displays and – yes, they also naturalize very easily!
So, fill your garden with daffodil bulbs and they will come back year after year every spring, more and more numerous, and you can also plant them under your lawn if you wish.
Pick any of the many daffodil varieties, big or small, in white, golden, orange and pink – and when spring comes, you will certainly be the first to know.
2: Columbine (Aquilegia spp.)
Don’t wait! If you have columbine seeds, or you mean to sow this flowering perennial in your garden, do it in fall! And why? Because it needs “cold stratification” – in brief, frosty temperatures – in order to germinate.
Yet another perennial beauty that naturalizes very easily, columbine also self-seeds and spreads spontaneously, so, plant them this fall, and you will have more and more of those amazing nodding, colorful blooms year after year!
3: Hellebore (Helleborus spp.)
Actually, why don’t you start your spring garden a bit early, with large blooms in the most amazing shades (including green and “black”)? In fact, why not by the end of winter already? Enter hellebore, one of the most gorgeous perennials ever!
The extra bonus you get if you sow or plant hellebores in fall is that your garden will also keep green over winter, with those tufts of broad, deeply lobed, evergreen leaves that are great for ground cover and look fresh even in the snow!
The flowers will accompany you into spring, also giving food to early pollinators – and yes, they naturalize and spread spontaneously as well: you can’t go wrong with hellebores!
4: Herbaceous Peonies (Paeonia lactiflora, Paeonia officinalis and Paeonia tenuifolia)
Do you want your garden to have a romantic, old world, traditional country atmosphere in spring? Then you will have to plant some herbaceous peonies in your borders in fall – they are a must for this effect.
And you have a choice too… You can go for the classic Chinese peony (Paeonia lactiflora), which will grace your garden with its blossoms in late spring and early summer, of course.
Or would you like an early start? Plant common peony (Paeonia officinalis) and you will see its flowers in April and May instead.
Maybe you want finely laced, deeply cut foliage as well as flowers? Then plant coral peonies (Paeonia tenuifolia) and you won’t regret it. But why not, you can grow all three (and more) varieties for a heavenly spring garden.
5: Early-Season Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)
Could we forget the “best flowering perennial in the world”? No, of course! “But wait,” you may object, “daylilies flower in summer…” You caught me out, but I have a trick up my sleeve. Early varieties bloom in May and June!
Ok, if you want to have the amazing spectacle of daylily flowers in spring, you need to plant an early flowering variety, like the lush pink ‘Earlybird Cardinal’ or the red and gold ‘Stella de Oro’ – the choice of shapes, sizes and palette is amazing anyway.
However, plant your early-blooming daylilies in fall, and by the end of spring, your garden will already look like a colorful summer and exotic paradise!
6: Primroses (Primula spp.)
Its name means “the first rose of spring”, but you have to sow it in fall, to have it in full bloom when the new season starts. Actually, some varieties (especially wild ones) need cold stratification, so…
Ideal for shady spots, we all recall the joy of seeing their clusters of golden flowers when taking the first spring walks in the countryside in spring, maybe under trees or on the sides of paths. But you don’t need to stick to yellow nowadays. You can choose from a large palette of whites, oranges, reds and even blue, as there are so many cultivars to make your garden look like an early sea of colors.
And, again, it’s great for ground cover and it propagates spontaneously as well.
7: Fritillaria (Fritillaria spp.)
Fritillaria is a real bulbous jewel, and I think it is underrated – or not as well known as it should. Why? There are so many varieties, from the colossal crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) to snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), famous for its unique checkered bell shaped flowers in greenish and brownish purple.
Whichever variety you choose, you will have to plant the bulbs in fall, but I have some great news for you. Just because there are so many species and varieties in the Fritillaria genus, you can literally have your garden blooming all through spring, from March to June to be precise!
So, my advice is to pick and choose a few varieties of fritillaria bulbs to plant in fall, and watch this amazing flowering perennial bloom and transform all through the spring season.
8: Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spp.)
What better way to welcome spring with the amazing heart shaped flowers of bleeding heart? And yes, you will have to sow it in your garden in fall to make sure it will bloom when the new season starts.
Now, the most famous of all bleeding heart varieties isDicentra spectabilis, with its famous red (red and white or white etc.) heart shaped nodding blossoms, and it blooms in mid to late spring. But I want to introduce to her less famous sister, western bleeding heart (Dicentra Formosa), with rich pink flowers, maybe not as striking, but guess what?
It blooms from April to June and even longer in hot climates! Maybe mix the two sisters in your garden?
9: Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Now I’d like you to meet another underrated perennial that blooms from April to June: Jacob’s ladder. Its name comes from the frond-like, deeply cut leaves, which form a dense tuft at the base, in rich to dark green shades, or even purplish at times. And why? They look like ladders, of course.
But the elegant foliage is only part of the effect. Upright stems will carry clusters of many flowers, usually in blue shades, though there are white varieties as well and, as you guessed, this perennial keeps flowering for months, attracting lots of pollinators.
Ideal for borders and beds with a natural look, you will have to sow Jacob’s ladder directly in your garden in fall, because the seeds require cold stratification for at least 60 days.
10: Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata)
Creeping phlox will literally give you a very fragrant carpet of flowers from mid spring to early summer, and its seeds too need to spend time at cold temperatures to germinate. So, the best time to sow it in your flower beds, rock garden, containers or for edging is in fall.
If you really want a stunning effect, you can create clouds of flowers with varieties in different colors, as there are varieties in pale blue, pink, violet and purple. It is ideal on a slope, also because it is good against soil erosion, and, of course, it is an excellent ground cover.
11: Pigsqueak (Bergenia cordifolia)
Also known as elephant ears, pigsqueak is a very easy to grow, low maintenance perennial mainly known for its super rich emerald green, fleshy, large and glossy, shiny leaves. But it does flower too, when tall stems produce terminal clusters of pink (or white) flowers. And they last all through the spring months, from March to May.
So, it is an ideal perennial to have a constant floral theme through the spring season, and never leave your garden without flowers. And guess when it’s the best time to sow it? In fall, of course, because it too needs cold stratification.
In warmer climates, the foliage is also evergreen, which gives you striking, exotic ground cover, and which fills beds even when it is snowing outside.
12: Grecian Windflower (Anemone blanda)
Can you imagine your spring garden without some lovely daisy-like flowers? Of course not! But I am wrong, with Grecian windflower you won’t get a few blooms, but lots and lots of them! They basically form a carpet, which will start early in the season, in March, and end in April.
Available in many shades of white, pink, violet, blue and purple, always with golden centers, Grecian windflower also has finely cut, decorative leaves, that add texture to your beds or containers. Needless to say, you have to sow it in fall directly in your garden – it’s another perennial that wants cold stratification.
Did I forget Tulips?
No, I didn’t, but surely you had already thought of them… And there are many bulbous perennials you can plant in fall and that will bloom in spring (hyacinths, snowdrops, crocuses, grape hyacinths etc.). These are 12 of the best, however, and if you start planting them in fall, your spring garden will be an explosion of flowers!
Written By
Amber Noyes
Amber Noyes was born and raised in a suburban California town, San Mateo. She holds a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco. With experience working on an organic farm, water conservation research, farmers’ markets, and plant nursery, she understands what makes plants thrive and how we can better understand the connection between microclimate and plant health. When she’s not on the land, Amber loves informing people of new ideas/things related to gardening, especially organic gardening, houseplants, and growing plants in a small space.