What’s Ornamental in Late Fall?
Gorgeous fall color of Kousa dogwood ‘Wolf Eyes’
In my last post, ‘What’s Blooming in Mid-Fall?” (click here to read), I explained that fall has three seasons for me: the early season is September, mid is October, and late is November. I promised a post on the late season, which I fully intended to do at the end of November. Unfortunately, the weather in the mid-Atlantic US just proceeded from temperatures typical of mid November, highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 40s, directly to temperatures more appropriate to January. When I got up this morning it was 24 degrees, and tonight’s low is 19 (-7.2 C), followed by three more nights in the low 20s. Almost everything is frozen so I might as well do November now.
Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Wolf Eyes’ has green and white variegated leaves during its main season and turns pink in the fall. Generally I recommend our native dogwood for its superior shape, flowers, berries, and fall color and because it supports 117 species of moths and butterflies alone while Kousa dogwood supports no native insects of any kind (source Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy). However, if you want to plant a Kousa, ‘Wolf Eyes’ is beautiful.
I hope readers won’t be disappointed because, with the exception of snowdrops, camellias, and a few others, the best ornamental plants in my November garden are prized for their leaves. October is probably the best month for fall color in the mid-Atlantic, and the landscape blazes with red, orange, and yellow from the huge deciduous trees we are famous for. However, woody plants that wait until November to turn color really stand out because native maples, hornbeam, sweetgum, etc. are done by then. Here are a few that I treasure:
Scarlet native dogwood on the left, orange witch hazel in the center, and brilliant red Japanese maple on the right. This is the hill above the Carolyn’s Shade Gardens nursery sales area.
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Native hybrid ‘Hartlage Wine’ sweetshrub turns a lovely butter yellow in late fall.
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All the blue hostas turn an attractive orange-yellow. Here ‘Krossa Regal’ with the fiery orange leaves of enkianthus and a yellow Asian sweetshrub in the woodland.
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Disanthus cercidifolius is probably my favorite plant for November color. This photo shows the whole shrub, which is probably 10′ wide and 6′ tall, although it could easily be pruned to a smaller size. Some websites call it redbud hazel, but I have never heard that common name used.
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A close up of the leaves shows that disanthus displays many beautiful colors at once. You can also see why it’s called cercidifolius, which means leaves like a redbud.
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Disanthus also blooms in November with tiny scarlet flowers.
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Another shrub that blooms in November is evergreen ‘Sasaba’ osmanthus. Again the flowers are not highly ornamental but they are amazingly fragrant, sweetly scenting my whole back hillside.
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Fall-blooming camellias are the highlight for flowering shrubs in November, here ‘Long Island Pink’ which started October 15.
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‘Snow Flurry’ also continues to bloom.
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‘Winter’s Joy’ starts in November and often continues into January. I just hope its buds don’t freeze this week.
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‘Winter’s Snowman’ also starts in November. I was going to show the whole plant, but all the open flowers froze last night.
Perennials also contribute to November interest:
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‘Brigadoon’ St. John’s wort and ‘John Creech’ sedum were not fazed by last night’s low.
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This late-blooming monkshood is always a highlight of my November garden, although it froze last night. Shown here at Chanticleer.
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All the coralbells derived from our native Heuchera villosa keep their beautiful color in fall and through the winter, here ‘Berry Smoothie’.
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‘Zebrina’ hollyhock mallow gets a second wind in the fall and is covered with blooms in November.
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Italian arum comes up in the fall and stays ornamental all winter, it’s amazing.
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Fall light slanting through my favorite ornamental grass ‘Moudry’ fountain grass.
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Beware, ‘Moudry’s black plumes are quite striking, however, it can be quite aggressive. I didn’t actually plant any of these plants, but I love where they planted themselves.
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Hart’s tongue fern and evergreen epimediums are also beautiful right now and for most of the winter.
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Hellebores stay green through the winter, and some of them have spectacular leaves, here ‘Penny’s Pink’.
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I couldn’t finish without showing some snowdrops! Galanthus reginae-olgae finishes blooming in the middle of November.
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I have a lot of fall-blooming giant snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii. Here is one that I have selected for its nice markings and because it produces two flower scapes per plant. It still looks pristine after last night’s freeze.
Keep warm,
Carolyn
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Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
November 18, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Your garden is really beautiful Carolyn. Is Disanthus cercidifolius really that blue/purple? It is really vibrant. Did you hear 3-4 feet of snow in Buffalo. In NF we have some snow, lots of wind and likely Wed. we will get more of both. I think January is early this year.
November 19, 2014 at 9:50 am
Donna, January is definitely early. In the first disanthus photo, the light is coming in from the side and making the leaves look bluer than they really are. They are a deep garnet color when they aren’t orange or yellow or anything in between. The third photo has a leaf behind the flowers. Carolyn
December 1, 2014 at 5:26 pm
I like your new header. I see you figured it out!
December 1, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Thanks. Yes, I came across the snowdrop photo which I thought would work and then found that WordPress simplified the way the header is changed. I found it easy to do thank heavens because the old header was worn out.
November 18, 2014 at 9:30 pm
you should try Lycoris bulbs, ‘Spider Lily’, mine just finished blooming last week. Very unusual flower for fall
November 19, 2014 at 9:45 am
Steve, Great suggestion. I have been meaning to try lycoris for years. Maybe I will order it next year. Carolyn
November 18, 2014 at 10:05 pm
I love all your colorful foliage. Yesterday, we had one of those days of heavy rain and high winds with temps just above freezing for which November in Maine is justly infamous. Yuck! The result is that any leaves that used to be on trees and shrubs are now mostly on the ground under a crunchy coating of icy snow. I remember being smitten by that Italian arum when I visited your nursery. What a lovely sight it must be at this time of year.
November 19, 2014 at 9:44 am
Jean, We had the exact same weather on Sunday night and Monday all day. Leaves are mostly down here too, but no icy snow just incredibly cold. Snowdrops and arum are prostrate on the ground but will revive when it gets a little warmer. Carolyn
November 19, 2014 at 9:36 am
Would like fall blooming galanthus . Need a source . Thanks , Nancy
November 19, 2014 at 9:41 am
Nancy, I may have some fall-blooming snowdrops available in my 2015 snowdrop catalogue. I added you to the distribution list to receive advance notice of that catalogue. Carolyn
November 19, 2014 at 11:51 am
I have to have the Disanthus Cercidifolius! Can you lovate one for me?
November 19, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Debra, The only plants that I mail order are snowdrops and miniature hosta. You could try a Goggle search for a mail order source. Carolyn
November 20, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Oh Carolyn, I so much enjoyed that post. Drooling at the mouth! The Disanthus looks wonderful. I just wish I lived on the other side of the ocean and could buy from you (my pen didn’t stop scribbling). What species of Pennisetum is ‘Moudry’ – obviously hardy, which would be important for me. But why does G. elwesii bloom in the autumn for you? I’d have classed it as a February flower? Thanks again!
November 20, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Cathy, It is Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’ listed as hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10. There is a whole division of G. elwesii that blooms in the fall called the Hiemalis Group. They start here around November 1. I have G. elwesii blooming from then into March some years. Most of them are plants I selected and not named cultivars. Carolyn
November 20, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Thanks so much for that information Carolyn. All the best.
November 21, 2014 at 3:50 pm
There’s always so much to see in your garden Carolyn. That Disanthus cercidifolius is so beautiful. I must keep that one in mind.
November 21, 2014 at 7:42 pm
Denise, Disanthus is difficult to find but well worth it. The branch structure is very pretty too. Carolyn
November 21, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Wow Carolyn your garden is stunning and such a treat to see in fall. I love looking for more ideas for native shrubs, and of course I still love the autumn Galanthus.
November 21, 2014 at 7:40 pm
Donna, I was wondering whether you have been affected by all the snow in upstate NY. WE just got cold here so fall leaf color came to an abrupt end. Carolyn
November 27, 2014 at 12:50 pm
No disappointment for me Carolyn, very beautiful. 19f I have never experienced such low temps, keep well wrapped up.
November 28, 2014 at 8:37 am
Thanks, Alistair, it got warm and then snowed. A roller coast.
November 30, 2014 at 10:43 pm
The weather has certainly been an unpredictable roller coaster ride. What beautiful, colorful ornamental plants for late fall.
December 1, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Yes, today it was at least 65 degrees and felt warmer, tomorrow high of 37. Carolyn
November 30, 2014 at 10:57 pm
I am crying for Wolf Eyes! I once bought one of these off the internet. I was shocked when a tiny seedling arrived, considering the amount of money I paid for it. I planted it, and it soon died. I was so disappointed! And now I see what might have been…
You have a terrific selection of gorgeous plants for fall, but stay warm and enjoy the winter!
December 1, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Deb, It is very discouraging that some mail order companies think they can get away with sending tiny plants because you can’t see what you are buying. It is always better to buy from a local nursery if you can find it or call the mail order supplier and ask them exactly what size plant you are getting. i.e., what size pot and what size top. I have a “life list” of plants I want, and i just buy them when I run into them. Some plants have been on it for 20 years but it’s worth the wait to get a good healthy specimen. Carolyn
December 2, 2014 at 1:53 pm
Now I am in love with Disanthus cercidifolius! Your garden is stunning! Your snowflakes are appropriate since it is snowing heavily again here. P. x
December 2, 2014 at 8:07 pm
Pam, Disanthus is a great plant. It is probably not available very often because people aren’t shopping at garden centers when it’s doing its thing. I opted for the snow when I first started the blog and now every Dec 1 it comes on. I love it. Carolyn
February 17, 2015 at 6:17 am
Excellent lovely pics and colours , thanks. I just looked at the tag from the one Disanthus we had but managed to kill and thought it was time to try again. You pic confirmed that it would be worth trying.
Cheers from Tasmania
February 17, 2015 at 11:25 am
Peter, Glad to help out in Tasmania. Disanthus is a wonderful plant. Carolyn