Snapdragons
Our Fall gardens can be a blaze of color with golden rod, asters, and cassia trees. We may not have the fall foliage as they do up north, but we have our own unique colors as the marsh grasses turn golden and the muhly grass is in bloom. By December though, things can look fairly brown and drab. Take heart – there are things that you can plant in the late fall that will bring you some garden and container interest right through until spring.
Everyone loves pansies. Unfortunately, so do deer. Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) are used in confectionary treats and as a garnish because they are edible and the deer seem to know this. However, if you have a fenced in area or a place like a porch or deck where the deer do not roam, pansies are a great plant for winter color. They are not affected by a hard freeze and I have seen them blooming through a coating of snow. Garden centers will have pansies all winter and early spring. When our hot and humid weather comes in, pansies tend to get leggy and will bloom less profusely. I just pull them out and compost them. They really do not “summer over” well.
My favorite winter and early spring plants are snapdragons (Antirrhinum sp.). They are so named because the individual blossoms look like a dragon and when you squeeze the petal, it looks like a dragon’s mouth is opening and closing. I plant snapdragons as soon as I see theme in the late fall and they really start to put on show in February before other things in the garden get started. They are considered a short-lived perennials, but are usually treated as an annual. Like pansies, they will survive freezes. It is important to deadhead the spent blooms to keep the plant putting out new flowers. Every year, new cultivars seem to appear with an amazing variety of colors. I find that my snapdragons last until July and then they die back. I do not try to keep them going in our hot summers. It is easier to replace them every year and they are not expensive. I like the plant three of the same color together for more of a visual impact.
Dianthus is an unsung hero plant of winter. It is a large genus of 340 species. You are probably most familiar with the type of Dianthus known as carnations that are commonly grown in greenhouses as cut flowers year around. Dianthus has many names such as pinks and sweet William. The Dianthus most commonly found in garden centers and grown here are shorter with smaller flowers than a carnation. They are perennial and will bloom all winter. You will see them used in the displays at the entrances to communities. The most common color is pink. I have a very low growing variety in my garden that is almost like a ground cover, but they can range up to a foot in height. Dianthus have been grown and hybridized in Europe since the early 1700’s and are now found almost world-wide. They are a great filler plant with small, but consistent flowers through the winter. They seem to go dormant in summer, but will come back when it is cooler.
We cannot forget that green is a color in the garden as well and some plants give our winter gardens vibrant green foliage. Farfugium or commonly called “tractor seat” is a bit like a southern version of a hosta. It has large shiny dark green leaves and one variety has yellow spots on the leaves and is commonly known as leopard plant.. Farfugium get large spikes of daisy shaped yellow flowers in the very late autumn which the bees seem to be very attracted to. Farfugium is for the most part grown for its foliage and its ability to look good in very deep shade. The flowers are just an extra bonus. They do like moisture so they might need extra water in the summer to look their best. Do not be afraid to trim off any damaged leaves. They will put out fresh foliage all year.
Silver plants look great in winter sunlight so try some Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima). With its velvety silver foliage, Dusty Miller is used in borders, containers, and floral arrangements. It is a tender perennial, but most people use it as an annual. It is a good contrast plant to anything that has color such as pansies and snapdragons.
These choices are easy to find and easy to grow to give you a pop of color during our short winter days.
