Your Guide to Fall Flowers & Seasonal Plants

It happens every September. The calendar flips, and suddenly TERRA store locations are packed with the bright blooms of Mums! While mums are an easy favourite, there are SO MANY beautiful, decorative plants to enjoy as Autumn approaches. Explore the options, and discover the best of the harvest season with our guide to Fall flowers and seasonal plants.

Garden Mums

Nothing says “Fall is coming” like Garden Mums! These compact, colourful flowering plants in dozens of jewel-toned hues are bright icons of the season for good reason. Mums can make a simple, stand-alone statement on a porch or patio, mix beautifully in planters, and shine in gardens. Most varieties available in September aren’t winter hardy in Ontario. Enjoy them as a seasonal plant from late summer through to frost. They prefer a sunny location, and enjoy a regular supply of water so that their roots are kept consistently moist. Find them in a range of sizes, from 6 inch pots to giant, awe-inspiring planters!

Ornamental Cabbage & Kale

Cabbage as decoration? It may seem odd, but stay with me on this. Ornamental cabbages and kales are bred for their fancy foliage, so they offer surprisingly beautiful texture and colour in the cool season! Plant them into the garden at the front of borders or walkways. Use them in mixed arrangements and enjoy their ruffled, crinkled colour. As the temperatures get colder, the blue and purple hues of ornamental cabbage and kale get brighter, and they even tolerate frost. What a cool plant option!

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia, or Black-Eyed Susan, is available in several varieties. The hardy, perennial Rudbeckia glows in the garden from August through fall. For seasonal decorating, annual types of Rudbeckia offer a wide range of gold and russet tones. Varieties can be either tall or compact, making annual Rudbeckia an easy plant to blend with almost anything! Try them on their own in bright pottery, mix into Autumn planters, or pop into the garden border in groups.

Ornamental Peppers

As the name would suggest, these peppers are grown for their beautiful fruit! Ornamental Peppers grow in many sizes and colours, with shiny, bright peppers that definitely catch the eye. The plants are tidy and attractive, with shiny green leaves, and LOADS of small peppers in red, orange, yellow, white, purple, and even black. Indoors, display ornamental peppers in pretty pots on the kitchen counter or dining table, where they can be enjoyed up close. indoors, or outside in mixed planters. Outside, place them in sunny locations in planters or pot with great drainage, and protect from frost.

Rex Begonia

Rex Begonias are tropical plants, prized for their colorfully patterned and intriguingly shaped leaves. For the fall season, they make an impactful addition to planters and porch displays! With foliage in deep shades (like burgundy, bright green and silver, or punchy purples and reds) Rex Begonias work exceptionally well with other seasonal fall flowers. Tuck them into pots and planters, or display solo in a beautiful pot to let this striking plant get full attention.

Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental Grasses are at their very best at the end of summer into fall. For planters and decorating, there is none so popular as annual Purple Fountain Grass. This striking grass is bright burgundy, with stunning plumes of graceful flowers throughout the season. It commands attention in planters, and displays beautifully on it’s own, both in the garden or in containers. The only downside to this amazing plant is that it’s not hardy to our winters in Ontario. Fortunately, there is a vast selection of hardy Ornamental Grasses that offer incredible colour, texture, and movement to gardens. Browse the selection of perennial grasses at TERRA here.

Everything Fall

Fall is a fabulous season to get inspired at TERRA! Find seasonal planters, fall decor, perennials, trees & shrubs, and everything you need to celebrate the arrival of Autumn.