Late Red Flowers

Its late fall and I'm visiting the garden of my friend Kathy. As you will see the red colors of her summer plantings are really putting on a late show. Part of her garden is nestled in the dappled shade under a couple of large oak trees. Sunpatiens are still quite prominent with their orange and fuchsia flowers. The dark green of the foliage help to provide contrast for the flower colors. While developed for compact growing in the full sun, in the shade these plants develop more open and loose growth. One of the stars of the late fall garden has to be the Golden Delicious pineapple sage. The foliage is chartreuse yellow that really shines. And when touched you are greeted with a sweet pineapple scent. The fire engine red flowers are tubular and are attached at acute angles on the flower stalks. Another example of red color is the butterfly penta. Paired with Electric Lime coleus the contrast is striking. These really pretty mums have red and yellow striped petals. The flowers are held on long stems above the foliage. The mums, red begonia and henna coleus contrast well with the fern-leaf yarrow. Don't be in a hurry to pull out your summer flowering plants. The cool fall weather will give them a second chance to shine. I'm horticulturist Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.