25 Fall-Blooming Perennials That Keep Flowering Until Frost
Perennials are excellent plants for adding color to your garden in spring and summer, but many of them tend to fade just before autumn. Keep the show going by including these fall-blooming perennials in your landscape. Most of them are low-maintenance, and make pretty cut flowers for making autumnal arrangements. Some of these long-blooming perennials enhance gardens with their flowers and foliage through other seasons too.
Agastache
Rely on agastache, commonly known as giant hyssop, to produce blooms throughout the summer and autumn. Its spikes of flowers sit atop tall, stalks and produce a licorice and mint fragrance that attracts hummingbirds. Check out all of the colorful varieties of this drought-tolerant perennial with blooms in blue, purple, red, orange, and white to make beautiful flower arrangements.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-10
Aster
Complete your autumn flower garden with the starry blooms of aster (Aster spp.). This perennial’s flowers are typically yellow in the center and have rays in shades of purple, violet, lavender, blue, pink, red, and white. Plant them with boltonia, goldenrods, and sedum for a show of late-season color. Mulch your asters to help hold moisture in the soil.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to partial sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Autumn Crocus
Watch autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) bloom in late summer to early fall with no foliage. This plant gets its naked ladies' common name from its naked flower stems that will rise from the ground and bear a star-shaped, lavender-pink to lilac-pink flower. Just make sure you don’t confuse autumn crocus with spring crocus because they’re not closely related. The flowers of autumn crocus have six stamens, while the flowers of spring crocus have three stamens.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 9 inches tall
Zones: 4-8
Autumn crocus is toxic to humans, dogs, cats, and horses.
Black-Eyed Susan
Bring color to your garden from summer to fall with the daisy-like flowers of Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.). This drought-tolerant plant's bright yellow summer blooms are a pollinator favorite. Varieties are available with orange, cherry, and bicolor flowers.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-11
Blanket Flower
Cover your landscape in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red with blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.). This drought-tolerant sun-lover is a snap to grow, and its cheerful flowers are highly attractive to pollinators. Add these to your butterfly garden or large patio containers for consistent color all season long.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-10
Coreopsis
From late spring into fall, coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.) is one of the few perennials that are almost constantly covered in colorful flowers. For extended blooms, be sure to deadhead this plant to encourage new blossoms. At the end of the growing season, leave a few flowers on the plants so birds such as cardinals, chickadees, and goldfinches can eat the plant’s seeds.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Goldenrod
Brighten your landscape with the vibrant yellow flowers of goldenrod (Solidago spp.). Its display of tiny daisy-like blossoms begins in late summer and continues into fall. And despite the common misconception of this pretty cut flower, goldenrod is not a source of seasonal allergies (ragweed, which blooms at the same time, is the real culprit).
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 5 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Feather Reed Grass
It’s easy to add a vertical accent to your borders with feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora). This grass forms large clumps of narrow, flattened green leaves from which rise upright flowering stalks bearing narrow flower plums. Look for 'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass—known for its tall, bright green leaves and buff-colored plumes that remain upright through most of the winter.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 5 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Hardy Chrysanthemum
Fill your containers, walkways, and borders with the showy flowers of garden mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium). Its flowerheads are made up of petal-like ray florets that are surrounded by a densely packed center of disc florets. This late-season bloomer is available in shades of yellow, maroon, rust, bronze, mauve, purple, red, and white. Choose from a variety of flower types including tight buttons, single daisies, doubles, and pompons.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Joe Pye Weed
It’s easy to attract butterflies when you plant Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum). This native perennial has domed clusters of vanilla-scented, tiny purple flowers that sit on tall purple-speckled stems. This is the tall plant that you need for your perennial border, cottage garden or pond border.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 7 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Ironweed
When you want a tall background plant for your perennial border, cottage garden or wildflower garden, plant ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis). This perennial blooms late summer into fall with tiny, deep purple flowers in loose, terminal clusters that sit atop stiff, leafy stems. The plant’s “iron-like” plant qualities are attributed to its tough stems, the rusty-tinged color of its fading flowers, and its rusty-colored seeds.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and slightly acidic soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Leadwort
Give your garden a splash of blue in summer and bright red foliage in the fall with leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides), also called hardy plumbago. Its bright blue flowers are pretty partners for yellow-flowered perennials such as yarrow and coreopsis. It's also a drought-tolerant groundcover that can fill in dry, bare spots in your landscape.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 12 inches tall
Zones: 5-9
'Lidakense' Sedum
Hardworking, drought-tolerant sedums (Hylotelephium spp.) come in various sizes, from upright perennials to ground-covering varieties like this one called 'Lidakense'. This low-growing succulent welcomes fall with small pink flowers contrasting beautifully with the blue-gray foliage that has hints of purple.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 inches tall
Zones: 2-9
Little Bluestem
Make little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) a part of your prairie or perennial garden. This authentic tallgrass prairie plant is a warm-season grass that is green during the warmth of late spring and turns reddish to yellowish orange in the fall. Choose regionally available plants and seeds that are adapted to your growing season as well as your soil and light conditions.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and average, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Mexican Bush Sage
Hitting its peak bloom when cooler temperatures set in, Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) produces numerous wands of beautiful pinkish-purple blooms. This shrubby plant's velvet-like foliage and square stems adds to its appeal. Get ready to attract an abundance of hummingbirds and butterflies.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
Perennial Sunflower
Watch the flower heads of perennial sunflower (Helianthus spp.) follow the path of the sun each day from morning to night. This familiar flower is known for producing an abundance of 2- to 3-inch yellow flowers with brown centers from late summer to fall. Combine them in a beautiful garden plan with asters, goldenrods, Joe-Pye weeds, and ornamental grasses to attract birds and butterflies.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Windflower
When you want an excellent fall bloomer, add windflower (Anemone x hybrida) to your fall landscape. Available in white, lavender, and pink shades, these popular perennials have been in American gardens for well over a century. They're easy to grow and bloom after many other plants have faded.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 4 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Pitcher Sage
Take a closer look at pitcher sage (Salvia azurea), also known as prairie salvia. Hailing from the prairies of North America, this salvia is an end-of-the-season stunner that produces tall spikes of sky-blue flowers in late summer. This deer- and drought-resistant fall-blooming perennial attracts birds with its beautiful blooms.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 5 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Sneezeweed
Bring daisylike blooms to your flowerbeds, borders, and meadow gardens with sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale). These perennial flowers bloom from late summer to autumn and are known for their wedge-shaped, bright yellow rays and dome-like centers. Remember to deadhead this beauty often so that it keeps producing new flowers. After it's done blooming, cut the flower stalks down to the foliage.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Toad Lily
Add the unique flowers of toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta) to your shade garden. From summer to late fall, these white to pale lilac flowers with purple spots bloom surrounded by foliage that’s arranged like a feather. Sometimes this plant is called hairy toad lily because all of its parts are hairy.
Growing Conditions: Part shade to full shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Pink Muhly Grass
Add texture to your garden with pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), also known as pink hair grass. You’ll love how the masses of loosely branched inflorescences in pink to pinkish-red appear to float above the foliage when in bloom. Even though this ornamental grass will handle heat, humidity, and drought, be sure to give it consistent moisture so its summer foliage and clouds of fall flowers will grow tall.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-11
Obedient Plant
Push a flower of obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) in any one direction and watch it temporarily remain in that new position thanks to each bloom’s jointed base on the plant’s main stalk. Not only is this native perennial perfect for your cut flower garden, but it is also one of the few fall-blooming plants that have blossoms of light shades of pink and white. Keep a watchful eye on this plant because it tends to spread.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Turtlehead
Rewild your yard with turtlehead (Chelone spp.). The hooded, snapdragon-like flowers of this native wildflower bloom from late summer into fall and resemble turtle heads. You’ll love its striking, leathery green foliage and its clusters of flowers in shades of pink, purple, and white.
Growing Conditions: Part shade and moist, rich soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-8
Switchgrass
Add color and texture to your yard with North American prairie native, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Use Its airy plumes in late summer and fall as a privacy screen at the edge of a pool or as an accent in large decorative containers. Some varieties have blue-gray foliage during the season and turn brilliant shades of gold or red in autumn.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Veronica
A perennial that’s easy to love is veronica, also known as speedwell. Its bottlebrush-like spikes are packed with tiny, perennial flowers that bloom from spring through fall. This easy-to-grow perennial adds great texture to many front-of-the-border plants. Varieties are available in a broad spectrum of colors including pinks, purples, blues, and whites.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-11