23 Fall Blooming Plants (Best Autumn Flowers)
These fall blooming plants will light up the fall garden with lots of beautiful flowers!
To design a fall blooming garden, include a good mix of annuals and perennials, as well as plants that bloom in partial shade and full sun. Don’t forget to include lots of fall annuals in containers, as well!
If this seems overwhelming to you, start slow with just a few plants and add more next year! We are including both fall-blooming perennials in this list, as well as fall annuals.
Fall plants typically bloom until the first frost of the year. A handful will even produce blooms after hard frosts start. Reference this USDA hardiness zones map to find out when frost starts hitting in your zone.
Fall Blooming Plants
These flowering plants will bring color, texture and interest to your autumn garden.
Black-Eyed Susan
Black-Eyed Susan feature bright yellow daisy-like flowers and a long growing season. They start flowering in early summer and will continue to bloom throughout fall.
Easy to grow perennial flowers, Black-Eyed Susan will bloom year after year. These low maintenance plants thrive in well-drained soil and need full sun. They are drought tolerant, making them the perfect fall bloomer for busy gardeners.
Echinacea
Known for it’s medicinal properties, Echinacea produces gorgeous flowers fromm mid summer through fall.
Featuring purple flowers, Echinacea is also referred to as Purple Cone Flower. These vibrant flowers will bloom up to two months and attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
These perennial plants grow best in full sun with well draining soil. Often made into tea, this plant is extremely popular makes a great addition for an herbal garden!
Chrysanthemums
Bursting on the fall scene in bright colors, mums are the star of the autumn garden. They come in many vibrant shades and can grow in full sun or part shade.
Mums love water and need consistently moist soil. Make sure to water them under their flower buds to prevent rot.
Look for mums in early fall-and add them to your front porch for lots of fall color. They can be grown as hardy perennials in moderate climates.
Japanese Anemone
If you are looking for fall blooms that will flower into late October, Japanese Anemone are it!
These unique bloms feature striking pink, mauve or white flowers that sit upon long, elegant stems. These elegant flowers grow in mounding green foliage and are a charming addition to a cottage style garden.
Japanese Anemone can thrive in partial sun, and need fertile, well draining soil in order to thrive.
These are one of our favorite fall flowers because they can survive light frosts and will bloom through late fall in Zones 4 through 8.
Blanket Flower
Blanket flowers feature red petals that fade into yellow tips, just like a beautiful fall sunset!
These beautiful flowers will bloom all summer and continue to flower well into fall. Give them a sunny location with moist, well draining soil.
A popular native plant, blanket flowers require little maintenance and are a good choice for busy gardeners.
Get inspiration for your cottage flower garden here!
Sweet Alyssum
Sweet Alyssum is a classic flower that features small tuffs of pink, white and purple flowers. These beautiful bloomers are perfect for sprawling over the edges of planters.
Sweet Alyssum loves to bloom in cool weather and will produce flowers in early spring and again in fall. Give these charming plants a full sun location and well drained, humus rich soil. They will not bloom with dry conditions, so be sure to keep them well watered throughout the blooming season.
Russian Sage
Russian Sage boasts dreamy purple flowers adorning long sage green stalks, making it a popular fall bloomer. This hardy perennial attracts bees and butterflies and is easy to grow.
This sage variety is drought tolerant once established and is an excellent companion plant for lavender.
Pansies
Pansies are cool-season flowers that are easy to grow and one of the best plants for fall. Pop them into containers, pumpkin planters, or borders. You can even feature them as an indoor centerpiece!
These beautiful bloomers can tolerate light frosts, and will bloom much later in the season than many other flowers. Give them rich, well draining soil. They enjoy partial sun and will thrive with about six hours of sunlight.
These popular fall flowers come in a wide variety of jewel toned colors. They look beautiful in a pumpkin planter!
Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa)
Pincusion flowers feature mounds of button-like flowers that perch on wiry stems.
Low maintenance and easy to grow, Scabiosa crave lots of sunlight and well draining soil. Deadheading will encourage them to bloom up until early frosts, but some gardeners leave the spent flowers in place for visual interest.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses bloom to life in the fall. There are hundreds of different varieties, and many complete their life cycle by blooming in the fall.
They feature feathery flowers atop long stalks of grass. Ornamental grass make great accents for cut flowers, and can add vibrancy to the flower beds at the end of summer.
Dahlias
Dahlias come in a wide array of styles and colors and bloom all the way up until the first frosts of fall! These vibrant flowers are fairly easy to grow. They need full sun and well-draining, fertile soil in order to thrive.
When dead headed correctly, dahlia flowers can produce hundreds of blooms in one season. They are heavy feeders, so be sure to give them the right fertilizer.
Miniature varieties can be growing in pots and containers. Merge them with your fall porch decor for a colorful autumn display!
Tickseed (Coreopsis)
Native to North America, Coreopsis, or Tickseed, is a popular flower that comes in many vibrant colors. As part of the daisy family, these low maintenance summer flowers feature daisy-like blooms that last well into fall.
Tickseed feature pollinator attracting flowers in hues of orange, red, yellow, pink and white. These easy to grow flowers form a low mound bursting with lots of blooms! Give them full sun and well draining soil.
Perennial Asters
Asters begin to bloom in late summer to early fall, just as many other flowers are starting to fade.
They feature gorgeous fall flowers that return year after year in bold colors. These cool-season flowers boast colorful blooms in all of the colors of the rainbow. Asters prefer full sun and do best with fertile, well draining soil.
Pair them with lots of mums for a fall garden overflowing with color!
Salvia
There are over 900 varieties of salvia and many of them will bloom all through fall.
These unique plants do well in full sun and are drought tolerant and deer resistant! These heat loving plants bloom throughout the summer months and up until the first frost of fall. Our favorite salvia variety is Hot Lips Salvia.
Marigolds
Marigolds are a popular flower to grow alongside the garden. These beautiful bloomers repel deer and attract beneficial insects. They will produce blooms up until the first frosts of fall.
Give them full sun and fertile, well draining soil. Deadhead regularly to keep the plant healthy and promote blooms.
Autumn Joy Sedum
Autumn Joy Sedum are succulents that burst to life with gorgeous pink flowers at the end of summer. This late bloomer is easy to grow and can thrive in poor soil, a perfect addition for a rock garden. They need full sun in order to produce ample blooms, and can tolerate heat.
Get more ideas for a low maintenance garden here!
Strawflower
Strawflowers have a long lasting bloom that lasts well into fall. Drought tolerant and easy to grow, straw flowers come in vibrant colors featuring yellow centers. When deadheaded regularly, new flowers will bloom until the first frost of fall.
They make an excellent cut flower, are easy to grow, and are drought resistant. Plant them in full sun for best results! Strawflowers are hardy in zones 8-11.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod features puffy yellow flowers that sit atop long flower stems. They have a long blooming season, typically from late summer until early fall.
Once established, Goldendrod are drought tolerant, though new plants need to be watered regularly. Deadhead the flower stalks to promote a longer fall blooming season.
Perennial Sunflower
While we are all familiar with annual sunflowers, the perennial variety will come back every year and parade their blooms. Perennial sunflowers bloom for about 10-12 weeks starting in late July and will continue to bloom through the fall months (until frosts kick in).
This sunflower variety is drought tolerant and deer resistant, making them a perfect fit for the low maintenance flower garden!
Sunflowers
Sunflowers bring vibrant yellow hues to the garden beds and will bloom until the first frosts of fall. Growing all over North America, these famous blooms are one of the easiest flowers to incorporate in the fall landscape.
Popularly grown as summer flowers, you can easily sew sunflower seeds in July and August for a show of fall sunflowers. Give them full sun and fertile, well draining soil. At the end of the season you can harvest the seed heads and eat them!
Snapdragons
Snapdragons are gorgeous fall flowers with unique dragon shaped flower heads. they bring lots of color and interest, making them one of the best fall flowers. These colorful flowers grow well in containers and in the ground, and taller varieties make excellent cut flowers.
They prefer cool weather, and will bloom in early to late spring and again in fall. Give them some shade to help them survive the heat of summer.
These short-lived perennials are easy to grow and will can tolerate light frost- snapdragons will continue to bloom well into late autumn!
Camellias
Camellias add a romantic flair to the fall garden. In hues of pink, purple, and red, many camellia varieties will begin blooming in mid to late fall. These fast-growing shrubs enjoy a colder climate, and will begin to bloom as temperatures drop. (No worries about a hard frost!).
Choose fall blooming varieties for the best flowers: Winter’s Interlude, Crimson King, and Yuletide are all wonderful options. As evergreen shrubs, camellias are a great choice for those of us who crave a colorful landscape year round!
Yucca
With long tendrils of pink or white flowers, yucca is a fun plant to feature in a rock garden. Yucca typically blooms from mid summer through fall.
While yucca enjoys warm climates, you can try growing them in colder climates (they thrive here in SW Idaho). Keep the soil dry and well draining, and give them a sunny spot in which to grow!
Final Thoughts
As summer fades to fall it can be tempting to give up on the flower garden.
But as you can see, there are plenty of fall flowers to choose from, each striking a colorful pose in the autumn landscape.
This list of fall-blooming flowers will help you design your flower beds with blooms that will provide lush floral beauty until next spring!
