Autumn Flowers and Grasses at Swanson's Nursery - Time for a Field Trip

Bridget and I spent a happy hour cruising the aisles of Swansons Nursery last week. Dogs are welcome, there's a cafe, tempting giftshop, koi swimming lazily in ponds, bins full of fall bulbs, and plenty of inspiration for autumn planting.

How many generations of gardeners have enjoyed strolling around Swansons Nursery on a sunny autumn afternoon, picturing this chrysanthemum or that aster blooming in their own gardens? Nursery tables are filled with plenty of coneflowers, sedum, helianthus, helenium, phlox and swathes of shimmery ornamental grasses to keep your garden going during this hiatus between the peak of summer bloom and fall color kicking in.

I've heard from several growers and nursery people that the newest generation of colorful coneflowers are more truly perennial than the first wave which rarely returned in springtime. I hope this is true, because I found several of the orange and red ones impossible to resist - they look so good with the purple and bronze grasses, or in this medley of coneflowers, asters, and Japanese anemones...

These lavender/purple phlox smell heavenly, and as you can see....they're on sale...

This dwarf echinacea would be perfect at the front of the border, especially because so many of the autumn perennials have grown tall and floppy by this point in the season...and this color would really warm the garden on misty mornings...

These asters are the Michaelmas daisies that British authors like Barbara Pym and Anita Brookner are always writing about in their novels to evoke autumn in the country.

This is the first variegated ornamental pepper I've seen - these are annuals, fun for the porch or houseplants...

And the clear, vivid yellow of perennial sunflowers (Helianthus 'Lemon Queen') against the blue, blue autumn sky...of course, I brought a pot (or two) of these home with me...

Soon enough there'll be holiday decorations and hellebores, gifts and trimmings...oh, please let the blue sky and autumn flowers last at least a few more weeks....

 

 

 

Comments

[DariaW]

My personal problem with cone flowers is that they make their appearance so late in the spring that I often forgot they were even there and accidentally destroyed them.

[Chris]

Sometimes I think the colors of fall are more brillant than those of summer...The light is better for sure...not so bright to wash things out and yes, that blue, blue sky!!
Thanks for the colorful stroll through Swansons!!

[Wholesale Nursery]

Wow! a very colorful flowers. I thought of the picture no.5 looks like a spicy fruits. :D This is very wonderful creation by God. :D