Regional Picks: Unusual Autumn Stars – Northwest

If you ’re sick of the same previous asters and mums , why not plant an unexpected gloam - adept rather ?

Here some truly out - of - the - average plants for upping your dip garden game in the Northwest . Some of these options furnish fantabulous leafage color while others put on a floral display in the final throw of October .

bet for some autumnal stars for your containers instead ? ReadAutumn Pots Minus the Mumsby Sarah Partyka for even more out - of - the - box fall planting intake .

1. Guernsey Lily

Name:Nerine sarniensis

USDA Hardiness Zones:8 to 11

Size:10 to 18 column inch tall and 3 inches wide

term : Full sun to partial shade ; well - drain ground

The tale of how the Guernsey lily earned its name is just as colourful as its dusk - blossom crimson umbels . As caption has it , a boxwood of bulbs , en route to Holland from their aboriginal South Africa , was upchuck away from a sinking ship in 1659 , and the bulb took root on the shore of Guernsey in the Channel Islands — where they still wave today . The Guernsey lily is a summer - dormant bulb , which sends up sturdy naked stems in late summer topped with deep Red River to dark orange flowers that bloom from betimes to later surrender . Strappy leafage follow in early wintertime and persists through spring . Its preferent grow conditions make it particularly become for shallow containers and rockery . Plant the bulb with their pourboire just above the open , and add together a layer of mulch in winter to help protect them from a unvoiced frost .

2. ‘Gilt Edge’ Toad Lily

Name:Tricyrtis formosana‘Gilt Edge’

Zones:5 to 8

Size:1 animal foot marvellous and 2 feet encompassing

Conditions : Partial to full shade ; moist , well - drained grease

While the dainty , shiny , gold - rim foliage of ‘ Gilt Edge ’ toad lily is more than enough reason to add the plant to a shady pip in your garden , it ’s the bunch of midget star - shaped flowers that emerge in early on to midfall that make this deciduous perennial a true standout . Be sure to plant it close to the edge of a border or along a timber way of life , where the detail of its white and violet - spotted flowers can be treasure . ‘ Gilt Edge ’ anuran lily grows in clumps and will colonize if give the chance , so be trusted to give it plenteousness of quad .

3. ‘Burgundy Bunny’ Dwarf Fountain Grass

Name:Pennisetum alopecuroides‘Burgundy Bunny’

Zones:5 to 9

Size:12 to 16 inch tall and 16 inches full

Conditions : Full Sunday ; well - debilitate grunge

This small ornamental grass begins as a not bad little tuft of brilliant greenish foliation in outflow , shows soupcon of copper in summertime , and transforms into a fiery chunk of red by fall . sum up to its striking visual aspect are the bunny fanny – like tufted prime plume that come forth in later summer . I care to imbed it in a topographic point where it can be backlit by the sun , countenance its plumes and ruby foliage to appear as though the plant were shine . The diminutive sizing of ‘ Burgundy Bunny ’ dwarf outflow grass makes it the stark plant for interspersing throughout a border or to use alone in a container . An added bonus is that cervid wo n’t nosh on it .

4. Creeping Alpine Willow

Name:Salix nakamuranavar.yezoalpina

Zones:4 to 8

Size:10 to 12 inch grandiloquent and up to 6 metrical foot wide

Native to the mass of Japan , this unusual willow can grow where precondition are harsh . This plant life prefer exposed web site , making it well suitable for a sway garden , where its intertwining limb can straggle and shed . Creeping alpine willow also makes a dramatic command cascading over the sharpness of a bombastic skunk . The plant ’s ovate leaves are cover in downlike cop in bounce and rick a prominent saffron crocus yellow in capitulation . Consider it a sheer earth cover for a bluff nurseryman .

Courtney Olander is a landscape and custom - container designer with Olander Garden Design in Shoreline , Washington .

Photos : # 1 , Mark Bolton / gapphotos.com ; # 2 , Joshua McCullough ; # 3 , courtesy of Wayside Gardens ; # 4 , Jerry Pavia

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Regional Picks: Unusual Autumn Stars - Southeast

Regional Picks: Unusual Autumn Stars - Northeast

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Regional Picks: Unusual Autumn Stars - Midwest

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