Plants with Awesome Autumn Colors
Cynthia Druckenbrod
While many of our deciduous trees in northeast Ohio put on colorful shows in autumn, let’s not forget that many plants do the same just on a smaller scale!
Here are four outstanding plants that you can see this fall.
Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’ or ‘Little Henry’)- This lovely native shrub grows well in a variety of locations and can tolerate moderately damp soil and partial shade. The oval leaves turn a shade of deep wine red in fall and can stay on the shrub until December! Cascading stalks of white flowers cover the shrub in spring, making this a wonderful plant for multi-season interest.
Oriental Spice Bush – (Lindera angustifolia)- Originally from China, but well adapted to our soils, this deciduous shrub grows 6-8’ tall. It does quite well in shady and sunny sites. Its leaves turn bright shades of yellow and russet red and are distinguished by a wintergreen fragrance when rubbed. Leaves tend to remain on its branches throughout the winter turning a tawny brown.
Blue Star (Amsonia hubrichtii)- Little blue flowers open in spring and attract pollinators. In fall, the thread-like leaves turn a golden yellow that simply glows in the sun! Consider staking as hard rains can sometimes cause the branches to flail outward.
Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’)- This is a highly adaptable shrub that does well in most gardens although it prefers partial shade especially in hot afternoons. In late summer, sweetly scented, light pink flowers attract bees and butterflies of all kinds! Green oval leaves become a golden yellow in fall.