Gardening Guides
Landscape Design
6 Gorgeous Fall Gardens Featuring Pastel Colors
Designers opt for a more muted color scheme for the season to create a calming autumn landscape
In the fall garden, soft neutrals and pastel hues offer unexpected color during a season where fiery reds and oranges generally reign. If you prefer the calmness of pastels in the garden, take a look at these inspiring late-season combinations from designers on Houzz that rely on colors like pastel purple, pink, buff, silver and pale gold. Many of the plants featured shine in gardens from spring through fall. If you see a combination you like, bookmark it for planting in the spring.
2. Purple and Sage Rooftop in New York City
A partially shaded roof terrace designed by Outside Space NYC encourages outdoor enjoyment from a lofty perch above the city. The plants — in a palette of lavender, gold, plum and pale green — soften the space and set a serene mood from spring into fall.
A partially shaded roof terrace designed by Outside Space NYC encourages outdoor enjoyment from a lofty perch above the city. The plants — in a palette of lavender, gold, plum and pale green — soften the space and set a serene mood from spring into fall.
Flowering herbs and perennials, including catmint, sage and aster, tumble over the built-in planters and invite bees and butterflies to stop by for a visit.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
Plant list:
- ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon (Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’, zones 3 to 8)
- ‘Goldsturm’ black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’, zones 3 to 9)
- ‘Hameln’ fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’, zones 6 to 9)
- ‘October Skies’ aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘October Skies’, zones 3 to 9)
- ‘Joan Senior’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Joan Senior’, zones 3 to 9)
- Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa, zones 3 to 10)
- ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’, zones 3 to 8)
- ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 8)
- ‘Limelight’ licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare ‘Limelight’, zones 9 to 11)
- Dwarf red-leaf plum (Prunus x cistena, zones 2 to 8)
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
3. Golden Grasses in New York’s Hudson Valley
Planting blocks of luminous ornamental grasses in neutral shades of green-gold, tan and linen give this garden in upstate New York a clean, minimalist look. The grasses provide four seasons of interest with minimal maintenance: bright new growth in spring followed by feathery flower plumes and seed heads in summer and fall.
Even in winter, the stalks and remaining seed heads add interest to the snow-dusted landscape. “When grass plumes and golden winter foliage are highlighted in the sunlight, especially against a dark cloudy sky, the visual experience is wonderful and painterly,” says landscape architect Dale Schafer of Wagner Hodgson, who was responsible for the design.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
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Planting blocks of luminous ornamental grasses in neutral shades of green-gold, tan and linen give this garden in upstate New York a clean, minimalist look. The grasses provide four seasons of interest with minimal maintenance: bright new growth in spring followed by feathery flower plumes and seed heads in summer and fall.
Even in winter, the stalks and remaining seed heads add interest to the snow-dusted landscape. “When grass plumes and golden winter foliage are highlighted in the sunlight, especially against a dark cloudy sky, the visual experience is wonderful and painterly,” says landscape architect Dale Schafer of Wagner Hodgson, who was responsible for the design.
Plant list:
- ‘Morning Light’ Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, zones 5 to 9)
- Variegated ‘Ice Dance’ sedge (Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’, zones 5 to 9)
- Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, zones 3 to 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
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4. Pink, Lavender and Yellow in Massachusetts
A creamy palette of pastel blooms appears to float above the foliage in this perennial garden border by Amy Martin Landscape Design. Long-blooming Japanese anemone, which flowers consistently from August to October in white or pink, offers great color alternatives for fall. Flowers sit atop tall, slender stems that rise above other companion plants — including the clumps of ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop used here — and look beautiful when silhouetted against a backdrop of foliage.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
A creamy palette of pastel blooms appears to float above the foliage in this perennial garden border by Amy Martin Landscape Design. Long-blooming Japanese anemone, which flowers consistently from August to October in white or pink, offers great color alternatives for fall. Flowers sit atop tall, slender stems that rise above other companion plants — including the clumps of ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop used here — and look beautiful when silhouetted against a backdrop of foliage.
Plant list:
- Japanese anemone (Anemone hupehensis var. japonica, zones 4 to 8)
- ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10)
- Tickseed (Coreopsis sp.)
- Ornamental grasses
Light requirement: Full to partial sun
5. Pastel Perennials and Ornamental Grasses in Norfolk, England
Wide planting beds featuring flowers in lavender, pink, white and gold form drifts of blooms around a wild garden and swimming pond in eastern England.
The perennials selected for the beds have extended bloom times, carrying the color of the garden from summer well into fall. Some, like long-stemmed purpletop vervain, flower into November or up until the first frost. Others, like purple coneflower, leave decorative seed heads behind after the bloom.
Wide planting beds featuring flowers in lavender, pink, white and gold form drifts of blooms around a wild garden and swimming pond in eastern England.
The perennials selected for the beds have extended bloom times, carrying the color of the garden from summer well into fall. Some, like long-stemmed purpletop vervain, flower into November or up until the first frost. Others, like purple coneflower, leave decorative seed heads behind after the bloom.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9)
- Purpletop vervain (Verbena bonariensis, zones 7 to 11)
- Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium sp.)
- ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10)
- Ornamental grasses
Light requirement: Full sun
6. Watercolor Meadow in Illinois
The shimmering colors of backlit prairie grasses and flowering perennials meld together in this artful meadow garden by Adam Woodruff. While the plants were chosen for many seasons of interest, the garden is particularly stunning in late summer and fall, when slanting light illuminates mauve puffs of purple lovegrass, light gold ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass and the raspberry-colored petals of ‘Ruby Star’ coneflower.
The shimmering colors of backlit prairie grasses and flowering perennials meld together in this artful meadow garden by Adam Woodruff. While the plants were chosen for many seasons of interest, the garden is particularly stunning in late summer and fall, when slanting light illuminates mauve puffs of purple lovegrass, light gold ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass and the raspberry-colored petals of ‘Ruby Star’ coneflower.
Plant list:
Light requirement: Full sun
- ‘Ruby Star’ coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Ruby Star’, zones 3 to 9)
- ‘Bartered Bride’ spotted Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum ‘Bartered Bride’, zones 3 to 8)
- ‘Shenandoah’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’, zones 4 to 9)
- Purple lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis, zones 3 to 9)
- Autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis, zones 5 to 8)
- ‘Summer Beauty’ allium (Allium ‘Summer Beauty’)
Light requirement: Full sun
Looking for more fall garden inspiration? Browse photos of landscapes. (Tip: Use the filters at the top of the page to refine your results by region and season.)
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Learn more about how to make the most of the fall garden
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Learn more about how to make the most of the fall garden
Find landscape architects and landscape contractors in your area
Shop for outdoor products
Cottage-style borders brimming with late-blooming perennials surround this sunny patio designed by landscape designer Ann-Marie Powell in southern England. Even past the peak bloom period, the warm colors of mauve ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop and purple-flowering perennials, mingled with the seedpods of daylily and fading foliage make for a beautiful watercolor-like display.
Plant list:
- ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, USDA zones 3 to 10; find your zone)
- Daylily (Hemerocallis sp.)
- Blanketflower (Gaillardia sp.)
Water requirement: ModerateLight requirement: Full sun
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