Solidago (goldenrod) blooms nicely in the fall, and is perennial. Many perennial asters out there that will bloom in fall as well. I have aster tartaricus Jindai and it's getting ready to bloom now. I planted a very small plant of it last year. Lovely profusion of little purple blooms with a yellow eye.

Sweet Autumn clematis (vine) will bloom clouds and clouds of tiny white flowers that smell heavenly and can grow in partial shade.

My hyacinth bean vines are going nuts! I have white, but purple is the most popular. The zinnias are great for late summer into fall color as well.

Caryopteris, sedums (like 'Autumn Joy' or 'Neon'), and helianthus will bloom into the fall.

The coneflowers are perennial and will bloom all summer and into fall. The new colors are fantastic in deep pinks, yellows, bronzy tones, oranges, and white.

Toad lilies, Russian Sage, Joe Pye Weed (eupatoriums), and especially Greg's eupatorium, Buddleias will keep blooming into fall. Scabiosa, coreopsis, and gaura will bloom thru fall as well.

New hybrids of agastache will bloom all summer into fall, and the hummingbirds and butterflies love them. Salvias and verbenas will bloom pretty much all summer into fall.

And don't forget the ornamental grasses, which flower beautifully in fall and add winter interest to the garden until early spring when they should be cut back at least to 6-8" from the ground.

Hope this helps!

Susan

I have three hydrangeas, and have had nary a bloom all summer. I know it was a rough summer, but I'm about to give up on them.

Susan, do you ever eat the beans from your hyacinth beans? I'm trying to decide if I should be pulling to pods to encourage more blooms. Does that work? Mine have finally gone nuts, too, after dragging their feet all summer. Such profusion. I love them.

bluehydrangea, I agree with Susan about the zinnias. I have always thought of them as a summer plant, but they do stay pretty well into fall. I have some of those little ones that came in from last year's seeds underneath the cosmos, which I've mostly pulled because they were looking pretty tacky. I've seen zinnia plants at Lowe's recently on the clearance racks for nearly nothing.

I also have gerbera daisies that are putting on blooms again after nearly nothing all spring and summer.

No, I have never eaten the beans altho they are edible. Every report I see on the flavor intercepts my desire to eat them. They are supposedly very bland. Also, when you cook anything purple, it ends up being a rather muddy brown color, and that is not appetizing to me either.

But, please help yourself! Hee Hee. I don't think pulling the pods will affect the bloom on these rampant blooming vines at all. I have pods all over mine. I grew the white blooming ones this year, and they really show up nicely in the evening and early morning garden. One purple showed up (from where, I don't know; perhaps a reversion or something). Bright pink MGs mixed in with it, too, so the free-standing trellis looks very nice.

Want some white lablab? I'll have plenty and more.

Another amazing annual plant I grew from seed is absolutely amazing, and I will definitely grow it next year. It is also a fall bloomer. Senna alata. Have you ever tried it - they call it the candlestick plant. In the pea family, so the leaves are just gorgeous. I direct sowed the seed in April, and the plants are all about 7 feet tall! Just now getting ready to bloom with those awesome yellow candelabra blooms. Very easy, drought tolerant, no fertilizer necessary, what more can you ask? Nothing eats on it (like grasshoppers or any other pest). From seed to 7 feet tall with fall blooms? Gotta have it again.

Also grew senna bicapsularis, same family. It flowers earlier, and is still flowering, but the seed pods look like very thin sickles. Very attractive - grown from seed also.

The purple double datura 'Black Currant Swirl' is just NOW getting ready to bloom. Love the dark green foliage with a touch of purple, and bright purple stems.

Verbena bonariensis still going strong, and I love, love, love the red zinnias I planted. HUGE flowers that turn to a rustic bronzy orange as they age.

I never thought about the gerbera daisies - always thought of them as a spring plant. Thanks for that info!

Susan

The gerberas may be a fluke because of the crazy summer. I planted them last year and they actually overwintered and came back but didn't flower. They are in a bed with other annuals that I kept watered, so they made it through the awful summer and are blooming now.

It's occurred to me that there may be many "spring" plants that might do better in fall here. I've planted some nasturtium seeds to test that theory. I love them, but they always start blooming about the time it gets brutally hot, and so they just curl up and turn ugly. So we'll see.

Never heard of lablab, but sure, I'll try it. Is it a lot like hyacinth bean? My hyacinth bean is planted in a big pot on the deck. I was trying to get it to climb up onto the pergola over my deck, but it has a mind of its own.

I've never tried the candlestick plant but anything that's drought tolerant sounds great. I'll try to remember that next spring.

Me, too, on the zinnias. Gotta be the red ones, though. I have the big ones in a bed by themselves and some of the little thumbelinas in a mixed bed. Zinnias were the first flower I ever tried to grow, and I still love them.

Another one I meant to mention yesterday is gaura. I was totally drawing a blank on its name so left them out. I noticed yesterday they are blooming again. This is the 4th bloom for them this year. Lantana is also finally blooming and is absolutely vibrant. Oh, and the aster I bought at end of season last year that I thought was dead has come back and is putting on buds. I'm excited about that as an alternative to mums.

I would love to take some of your elephant ears off your hands but don't know when I would get it. I'll be in OKC week after next for my mom's cataract surgery. Maybe I can meet you somewhere while I'm there?

I don't even bother with buying "fall" plants anymore since the several varieties of Lantana, Mexican Petunias, crimson Salvia, Morning Glories, Gaura, Canna, Tropicana and Mini Roses, Hardy Ageratum, Four O'clocks, Malva Zebrina blah, blah, blah, will bloom until first hard freeze knocks them down. Oh, and my new favorite this year from a "bird donation" is Analphalis Pearly Everlasting. This picture doesn't do it justice because the sun was just too bright at the time. The foliage is silvery green. Great cut flowers and for dried arrangements. It is a knockout with the crimson Salvia. :-)

the many, many Rose of Sharon shrubs of many colors that are all over my backyard and down both sides of the house. They are still going strong and will for another month at least. ;-)

Hello all, I am in need of advice. Recently purchased a home in Broken Arrow, and I've got two problems.

1. I have large trees, and so zones of light ranging from 1/4 shade to full sun.

2. Although the homeowners left a nice bed of saliva blooming in the front, I have nothing but a rose of sharon on my back fence as of now, and it's late fall.

Any suggestions for perrennial plants that it is safe to plant this late (and how much sun to plant them in) would be much appreciated.

Also, my "garden area" is in 3/4 sun, and I need suggestion for something either perrenial to eat or something that I can harvest this winter.

Thanks,
-JR

I'm in south Tulsa so understand quite a bit about your climate in Broken Arrow. One of the problems with planting anything this late in the fall (2 weeks away from our normal first frost date) is not that the soil isn't warm enough for the roots to grow but rather that we are so prone to unexpected hard freezes following warm days that new plants can be easily shocked to death. You may want to wait until next spring to plant any expensive perennials. In the meantime over winter you might want to glance over a couple of plant books written by Oklahomans: Steve Dobbs or Steve Owens. Ask the B.A. Library to find them for you if you don't wish to buy them outright. Of course if you just can't wait to get your fingers dirty (and I get that) there are always pansies,Dianthus, snapdragons etc. that are cheap enough that if they survive will look glorious next spring. And there are always spring bulbs to consider planting once the ground cools off (usually around Thanksgiving).