Best plants for an autumn lift

Autumn light is gentle, yet borders can still sing, Plant now while the soil is warm and moisture is returning, and you will enjoy instant impact with roots establishing before winter.

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Autumn light is gentle, yet borders can still sing, Plant now while the soil is warm and moisture is returning, and you will enjoy instant impact with roots establishing before winter.

Containers and bedding

Refresh pots with violas and pansies for cheerful faces through short days.

Hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) brings marbled leaves and nodding blooms now, carrying on into October. Add flowering kale for bold rosettes and heuchera for evergreen foliage, anchoring winter displays.

Choose peat-free compost, mix in slow-release feed, then water to settle. In spring, these containers become the perfect stage for bulbs pushing through.

Perennials performing now

Asters (Symphyotrichum) deliver daisies in blues, purples and whites just when borders need a lift. Sedum (Hylotelephium) forms dusky pink plates, holding their shape into winter.

Hesperantha coccinea lights up cooler evenings with scarlet or shell-pink flowers, and

Asters earn their keep in late September, sending up daisy flowers as borders tire. Hardy types still bloom, adding colour and reliable shape.