Best Plants for Fall Colour
Autumn is a great time of year for foliage effect and it can be hard to narrow down the best plants to shine this time of year, but here’s a great place to start!
Top Trees for Fall Foliage Colour
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese Maple | Acer palmatum | Arguably the Queen of fall colour and with so many varieties to choose from there is a Japanese Maple for every unique garden style. |
| Serviceberry | Amelanchier sp. | Great small garden tree and foliage fades to shades of brilliant red/ orange/ and yellow in fall. |
| Red Maple | Acer rubrum | Very tolerant of a range of growing conditions and fall colour ranges from yellow orange to vibrant bright red. Excellent specimen tree. |
| Sweetgum | Liquidambar sp. | ‘Slender Silhoutte’ is an excellent variety for incredibly narrow spaces growing to only 8’ wide. Fall colour for all sweetgums ranges from apricot-orange to reddish purple. Tolerant of wet soils. |
| Tupelo tree | Nyssa sylvatica | Exceptional bright red fall colour. Excellent specimen tree. |
| Persian ironwood | Parrotia sp. | Small garden tree with excellent drought tolerance and has a lovely range of fall colours from yellow to burgundy. |
Honourable mentions:
Sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum)
Stewartia
Fall flowering trees:
Seven-sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides)
Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha)
Shrubs for Fall Foliage Colour
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chokeberry | Aronia sp. | Glossy green leaves fade to purple/red in fall. Great for natural areas and wet, boggy soils. |
| Smokebush | Cotinus sp. | Brilliant shades of yellow to vibrant red depending on the variety. |
| Redbud Hazel | Disanthus cercidifolius | Burgundy fall colour fading to crimson later in the season. Turns reliably deep red even in shaded conditions. |
| Enkianthus sp. | Enkianthus sp. | A woodland edge shrub or small tree with rich scarlet autumn colour. Best colour in full sun. |
| Burning bush | Euonymus alatus | An incredibly drought tolerant small to large shrub depending on variety with fiery red fall foliage. Able to grow in a range of conditions. |
| Witch-alder | Fothergilla sp. | This easy to grow mounding shrub produces yellow to apricot-orange fall colour. An excellent low-maintenance garden plant. |
| Sweetspire | Itea sp. | A great shrub for wet or boggy sites, with foliage that changes to a brilliant oranges and reds in the fall. |
| Sumac | Rhus sp. | Showy fall foliage and ornamental fruits are produced on this colony-forming shrub which is perfect in large borders or natural gardens. |
Honourable mentions:
Beauty berry (Callicarpa sp.)
Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Blueberry (Vaccinium)
Grasses, Perennials and Vines for Fall Foliage Colour
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Blue leadwood | Ceratostigma plumbaginoides | A drought-tolerant groundcover with blue flowers from summer to early fall held atop foliage that turns deep burgundy in the fall. |
| Fireglow spurge | Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’ | Leaves of this Euphorbia turn shades of fiery red in fall. |
| Japanese Blood Grass | Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’ | Red foliage all season long, turns even more intensely coloured later in the season. |
| Red-Leafed Mukdenia | Mukdenia rossii | A woodland perennial for foliage lovers, with deep read maple-like leaves in the fall. |
| Virginia creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Deciduous, perennial vine with superb fall colour. |
Fall flowering perennials:
Monkshood (Aconitum sp.)
Japanese anemone (Anemone japonica)
Aster
River lily (Hesperantha coccinea)
Autumn Joy stonecrop (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Autumn Joy’)