Favorite Fall Plants

Annuals When days shorten and nights get cool, these plants thrive.Arctotis: Bright, daisylike flowers, silvery foliage, and a neat habit distinguish this plant; also try Osteospermum -- it is similar but has rounded petals and a wider palette.

Cabbage, chard, kale, and kohlrabi: These intriguing, richly textured vegetables range from blue-gray to pink and purple.

Cardoon: This artichoke relative's large, silvery-blue foliage makes a pretty accent.

Perennials Mix these with annuals; they can be replanted in the border before the ground freezes.

Ajuga: This slow-to-spread ground cover is a surprising container plant; 'Chocolate Chip' has mounds of shiny purple foliage.

Ferns: Choose evergreen or semievergreen varieties of these shade lovers, such as leather wood, Japanese holly, or Christmas.

Grasses: There are grasses to suit any style: Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' has spiky mounds; Carex testacea boasts burnt-orange foliage.

Heuchera: Colorful foliage on these shade plants stays dense in fall; try 'Plum Pudding.'

Ivy: Consider yellow 'Gold Heart,' gray-green 'Pedata,' or gold-and-green 'Golden Ingot.'

Sedum: Masses of colorful, star-shaped flowers characterize this plant.

Woody Plants Keep these in pots year-round or replant in the garden.

Dwarf conifers: These lend soft texture. Cryptomeria japonica 'Compressa' has rounded gray foliage that turns golden in fall; chamaecyparis is deliciously fragrant.

Japanese maple: This tree has many cultivars: Its fall foliage varies from burgundy to red. Look for Acer palmatum 'Sharp's Pygmy.'

Red osier dogwood: Stems on red- and yellow-twig dogwoods are most vivid in fall.

Spiraea: Profuse spring blooms give way to red, orange, and yellow leaves in autumn.