More Fall Flowering Perennials
Sorry for my absence, trip was a little longer than expected; Husband is a trucker and decided to go with him on a trip to Texas. While down there saw a beautiful pink grass that just grows wild along the roadside
Muhlenbergia capillaries Pink Muhly Grass Zones: 6, 7, 8, 9
Pink Muhly Grass’s native range reaches from New York to Texas where it lives in dry, gravely open areas and thinly wooded sites, prairies, and savannahs. Despite its hardy nature, it is a highly ornamental grass for dry places in full sun or light shade. Sage green, glossy, very narrow leaves that are semi erect are topped at 3 feet with masses of bright pink, delicate, flower panicles that create a pink haze above the foliage. Blooming starts in early fall and continues on into late fall, the color changing to beige. Pink Muhly is attractive individually but really makes a big show when used in masses and drifts.
A great looking companion plant to the Muhly grass would be Amsonia hubrichtii Threadleaf Blue Star Zones: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Threadleaf Blue Star has very narrow needle-like leaves 3 to 4 inches long and only a matchstick in width giving a fine and brushy look. The plants grow 3 to 4 feet tall; the flowers are a medium dark steel blue in late spring. It prefers a dry site. Fall color is deep gold before the plants die back for the winter.
The Boltonias are great plants for adding color to the fall landscape. Related to the Asters, they cover themselves profusely with 3/4 inch daisy -like flowers. ‘Snowbank’ is perhaps the most widely grown kind. It is an improved form of the normally white flowering species, having more and larger flowers. ‘Snowbank’ has blue-green foliage, oblong 5 inch leaves, and strong erect stems growing to 4 feet that seldom need staking. It likes average to moist soil and full sun. ‘Snowbank’ makes a bold addition to the fall garden, and clumps enlarge quickly in good conditions
Boltonia or False Aster
‘Pink Beauty’ is a Boltonia (also commonly called false aster) cultivar that is noted for its late summer bloom of pale pink flowers. It is a tall, rhizomatous perennial that grows in a clump to 3-5’ tall. Features linear, lance-shaped, grayish-green leaves (to 5” long) on erect, usually branching stems. Tiny, pale pink, 3/4” daisies (pink rays with yellow center disks) in loose
panicles literally cover this aster-like plant with a profuse bloom in August and September.
Pink Beauty Baltonia
Pycnanthemum incanum Mountain Mint Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8
Plants look like their tops have been spray-painted. Upright stems usually 2 to 4 feet tall are topped with hemispherical flower heads with the same configuration as Bee Balm. Flowers are in dense clusters of white suffused with green and pale pink spots. The white coloring extends down from the flowers including stems and leaves for 6 to 12 inches. Plants really do look like they’ve been painted. Mountain Mint will grow in full sun or light shade. It likes dry or moist conditions. Its leaves and stems are also extremely aromatic. Just watering plants in pots will fill a greenhouse with a fresh herbal-mint scent. For that reason you may want to use this plant where you or your pets might brush past it frequently. With its white upper parts on display for the latter third of the growing season, Mountain Mint is a curious plant, something a bit unusual for the woods’ edge or border of a natural area.
