Hey friends welcome to Gardening with Creekside today I am excited to share with you my top
seven favorite perennials to plant in the fall so that you will have gorgeous spring color I
know we talk a lot about here in the Southeast it is the perfect time to be adding perennials
and trees and shrubs to your garden heck most of the country you as long as you get your plants in
before your ground freezes so my folks who were in really cold climates you're going to want to
get your plants in the ground weeks before the ground actually freezes fantastic time to get
these babies into the ground that way they can get really well established before the
heat of the summer hits so I'm going to share with you these top seven perennials that will
give you gorgeous spring color early early on in the season so that is what we're focusing on
because I know now our Winters here in the South are very mild but we too enjoy seeing lots of
fresh color as soon as you know the weather starts to turn so look for these at your local
garden centers grab some up and then add them to your garden so that you will have gorgeous
color come this spring I do have my little cheat sheet so if you see my little clipboard that is
what I'm doing so that way I make sure I have all my information correct these are in no particular
order I am not ranking them from my absolute favorite damn these are just the ones that
just came to me as I was thinking so first of all I have baptism now baptisia is one of my favorite
and I'm going to say that and just forgive me because these are my top seven favorites so I'm
going to say it over and over again I am sure the baptism is one of those early spring Bloomers that
is so easy and low maintenance and the longer you live it leave it in your garden just like
all these other perennials they get bigger and better with every year I have lemon meringue in
The Cottage Garden by the house and it is just spectacular it's been there this is its fourth
season I believe that has been in the garden and it is just wonderful now baptisia is going to be
for part to full sun roughly in zones four to nine and they're going to range in size so depending on
the variety that you get they're going to be anywhere between that two feet to three feet
tall and wide baptisia are great even after they balloon because they bring a lot of architectural
interest into your garden they are narrow at the base and then kind of come upward and spread out
so it has a vase like feature and they come in a host of colors lemon meringue obviously is a
beautiful yellow you can have them in the Blues in the pinks even in kind of like the chocolate
Browns the soft whites they're available also they are drought tolerant once they are established
because they have an extremely long Tap Root so that is one thing about the baptism is make sure
that you plant it where you like it because of that deep Tap Root it does not transplant
well after it has been established they are deer resistant now when I say deer resistant in this
video that does not mean deer proof there is no such thing as a deer proof plant because if
deer are hungry they will eat absolutely anything but they are deer resistant and they are a native
plant to North America gorgeous tall spikes on them really fun again it brings height to your
garden lots of Interest even after they bloom you're going to have this like a bluish green
foliage to the plant stunning so find a baptism and add it to your garden next amsonia I do
enjoy a beautiful amsonia because again they have these Early Blooms really fun texture to them Leaf
texture and they have gorgeous true blue flowers to them and depending on your variety they will be
dependent on size of course right so String Theory from proven Winters is one of the more smaller
ones then you've got storm cloud which will be a little bit bigger and then you can go with just
the native plant that's like a non-branded plant which is what I have in my garden it's been there
again for that four to five years it is actually right below my baptism stunning now emsonia is
do like again the part to the full sun zones four to nine average about that two foot to three foot
height on them very very fine feathery foliage they are Heap tolerant wonderful plant they can
handle that full hot sun once established they are drought tolerant deer resistant again native
to North America and they have gorgeous fall color so a lot of your amsonia will turn there's almost
like a yellowish golden color so this time of year you've got interest in the plant as well
next for my shade gardeners I have pulmonaria pulmonaria is just one of those extremely low
maintenance perennials gorgeous foliage even if it didn't Bloom you need to add it to your garden
just because of its gorgeous speckled um colors to it but pulmonaria will depends on your variety
but they will have blooms like the spot on from proven Winters and the new pink blue they will
have flowers that start either in that salmon to pink color and then transition to Blue hopefully
I got that right because I always get mixed up but I'm pretty sure it's the pink to the blue
hints pink blue but these are definitely going to be your shade plants anywhere from part to full
shade hearty in zones three to nine so if you are in zones three you can handle a lot more Sun than
my folks who were in zone nine if you're in zone nine your pulmonary it needs to be in lots and
lots of shade so this is where you have to become a student of your own garden and look at the
sunlight requirements and maybe a plant is even like sun or shade zones three to nine if you're
in zone three absolutely you could probably put it in full sun if you're in zone nine it's probably
gonna be more of a shade plant or a Morning Sun afternoon shade so you're going to have to play
around with it and kind of analyze that the plant specifications and then put it in the appropriate
place in your garden and don't be afraid if it doesn't if it's not like thriving then move it
but pulmonaria again is going to be it's a perfect shade companion in your garden because it Blends
really well with your hostas it has kind of that same habit as a hosta where it's not going
to be very tall about 16 inches tall but it's going to be nice and wide about 20 inches wide
deer and rabbit resistant it does need good drainage it doesn't like to sit in consistently
wet soil it will rot now it likes moisture but it's got to be well draining soil and for us
it's a semi-evergreen ours don't completely go away in the winter time like a hosta does now
if you're in zone three it probably is going to disappear all your foliage is going to go
away in the early spring it'll come back but those early spring blooms are great for your
pollinators because they are in desperate need of some sweet nectar come early early spring
hellebores Lenten roses one of my all-time favorite uh perennials because it is probably the
number one earliest blooming perennial out there they're called Lenten roses because they will
bloom a lot of times during the season of lent it is not uncommon whatsoever to find a hellebore
blooming covered in snow they are very cold tolerant and they are long blooming I actually
had one last year that started blooming like late November and went all the way through the spring
gorgeous colors and they will go anywhere from like black to white and every color in
between there are tons of different varieties and cultivars and series out there that you can go to
your local Garden Center and just ask them about hellebores or common name is Linton roses these
are going to be the old-timey varieties definitely need more shade there are some new cultivars that
can do more sun it's just going to depend on your Zone and the plant so just read your plant tag
zones three to nine so very very versatile they're going to average about 16 inches tall and 20
inches wide deer and rabbit resistant because they have very thick leathery rough foliage to them so
it's not a tender foliage whatsoever and they are that Evergreen so even in the summer you're going
to see your structure even though you don't have your flowers and it does do really well in dry
shade my mom has tons of hellebores the old-timey varieties where they will reseed themselves so she
has got plenty to share with me and those are all in her dry shade garden the old cultivars
do reseed so if you want to have a naturalized area those would be a great choice or if you want
to have some more of the newer varieties they are much much more well-behaved and stay neat and tidy
so again just look at your conditions what are you going for and then pick the right cultivar for
that next um so I always mispronounce this name I wanted to call it um brunnera bruneria but I was
you know me I'm just full disclosure so um I was doing the the description on like how to say it
and it reminds me of like Bruno so it's Bruno brunera so there we go brunera right we never
have these things perfect it's like tomato tomato these a lot of these of course plant names are
in Latin so you know you just learn as you go and if somebody around you mispronounces a plant name
and you know what it is smile and Nod there's no need to be pronunciation police people come on now
be gracious my word okay my Jenny's gonna get off her mama soapbox there for a minute but we've
got two great varieties um from proven Winters that we use a lot now of course there are tons
of them out there Queen of Hearts and then jack of diamonds those are great different varieties
lots of varieties for you to choose from with your brunnera and um they are going to be again a shade
plant so anywhere from part to full shade zones three to eight very very versatile even for us as
a Zone 7B these do wonderful for us 16 inches tall 28 inches wide but they have spectacular silver
and green foliage but is what's really fun is their blooms is this gorgeous true blue flower and
it will come up and raise above the plant foliage itself so you have got this gorgeous pop of blue
which your honeybees will find particularly attractive and this is a great alternative or
in addition to your hostas because they are deer resistant they are very hairy is the best way I
can describe it lots of texture to the leaves but that beautiful true blue Bloom that comes up above
it in the early spring is just gorgeous and will make a great addition to your shade garden next
we have a Jacob's Ladder Heaven Sent From Proven Winners is one of those plants that I honestly
never would have tried because it is Hardy in zones three to seven but we have such a great
relationship with Walters Gardens that they send us these trial plants they sent us this plant and
it does great here because we are a Zone 7B this is why I would be hesitant to try it being so cold
hardy I would have thought that our summers would have been just too hot and it would have melted
but it does really really well so the Heaven Sent Jacob's Ladder is going to be part shade to full
sun now remember what I told you depending on your Zone will depend on where you put that plant
if you are a zone three absolutely I am sure you could probably put it out in full sun us as a 7B
since this plant is only tolerant to a Zone Seven it goes in deep shade for us shade shade shade can
do a little bit of filtered sun and that is it it is going to be about 18 inches tall and wide
gorgeous blue flowers on this the Heaven Sent has a very unique Leaf texture to itself but
then when you add on these gorgeous blue flowers it is just a stunning plant that is just a great
welcome very cheery site to your early spring garden and these are going to be deer resistant
as well so hopefully in here you have found some great options that if you have sun or if you have
shade if you are a zone three or if you're a Zone nine depending on where you are hopefully you have
found a lot of good choices now I would be remiss if I did not include your spring flowering bulbs
the fall is the absolute best time to put your bulbs into the ground depending on your Zone
will it depend on what bulbs you're going to put into the ground if you are nice and cold-hearted
you can put tulips and alliums and daffodils there are massive amounts of different types of
spring flowering bulbs that you can put into your garden right now they can get nice and established
and come early early spring they will be very happy in the South we have to be a little bit
more careful and selective of the plants that we put the bulbs that we put into the ground because
we do not have consistently cold Winters that can help some of those bulbs for example tulips
tulips need an alliums need a certain length of time typically six to eight weeks of cold
temperatures at a certain level or below they need that vernalization period in order to store up
the food and then flower beautifully we don't get cold enough so we have to pre-chill those kinds of
bulbs tulips alliums I'm trying to think of some anyway you if you Google you know if you like when
you're looking and if you look at color Blends is a great website that does a lot of spring
flowering bulbs I do even van England's is a great one John sheepers those are all bricks wonderful
online stores that you can order these from they will tell you if it needs to be pre-shilled or
not we do junkles they are daffodils but they are the jonquila um line of the daffodils those do not
have to be pre-chilled for us they do really well in the southern climates I put my first 200 in the
ground last week super excited about that crocuses will do well for us snow drops um oh gosh I'm
trying to be remembered but different ones so now is the perfect time to get those spring flowering
bulbs in the ground a little bit of work in the fall will bring you lots of cheery results come
this spring again I hope you have found at least one or two plants in this list that you has piqued
your interest and you want to add to your garden because again doing a little bit of work here in
the fall will bring you such massive dividends come this spring when we're all just desperately
yearning for some color and some interest in our Gardens these seven perennials will not fail
you as always thanks so much for gardening with Creekside y'all stay tuned because this is going
to be a two-part series we're going to have one on my seven favorite shrubs to add to your garden for
spring flowers again we appreciate you you all have a great day see you in the next video bye