Specialty Gardening: Plants that show good Fall foliage color , 0 by sempervirens

sempervirens wrote:
Thank you Pagancat for the compliment and finding pleasure in the foliage combinations I photographed in my garden.
The visual image of dark russets and golds as smoldering embers you offered is delightful.

I found a book years ago, before I switched to a mostly native plant garden, that promoted 4 season gardening. The challenge of planting my small garden with the idea of having some plant in each part of the garden offering something to each season, either bloom or foliage or structure, was the kind of puzzle I couldn't resist. Trying to do this with native plants added another challenge.

I have found watching a plant change through the seasons one of my greatest joys in gardening.

I tend to move plants around twice a year, late spring and fall to help the design of the garden.
The one season that eludes me is winter. I need more shrubs, evergreens and berrying plants.
I did add 2 female and 1 male winterberries (Ilex verticillata) this Fall and a rosa virginiana last year for red berries and red twigs and rosehips. This native rose has a similar appeal as your new red-twig dogwoods as the newer twigs are a lovely red and the rose hips look like berries.

The photo is of the backyard Rosa virginiana that has been in place for many years. It is a big suckering shrub rose so I ruthlessly prune out older canes to control the size and get the lovely red stems from newer canes.