Complete Gardening
Fall is the perfect season for planting perennials that will awaken in spring with stunning blooms and vibrant greenery.
While many gardeners are familiar with tulips and daffodils, there are plenty of other perennial options that are equally beautiful but less common.
Here’s a list of 29 lesser-known perennials to plant this fall for a unique and flourishing spring garden.
1. Japanese Anemone
These graceful flowers bloom in late summer and early fall, adding delicate color when few other plants are flowering.
2. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
With its soft, feather-like blooms, Prairie Smoke adds a whimsical touch to gardens, creating a striking ground cover.
3. Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens)
This low-growing perennial produces pure white flowers and serves as an excellent ground cover.
4. Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
Jacob’s Ladder boasts beautiful, fern-like foliage and blue-purple flowers, providing texture and color to shady spots.
5. Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
Also called pigsqueak for the sound its leaves make, Bergenia has bold foliage and clusters of pink flowers.
6. Toad Lily (Tricyrtis)
With its orchid-like blooms, Toad Lily is a striking addition for shade gardens, adding exotic flair with speckled purple or white flowers.
7. Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
This shade-loving plant produces delicate, foamy white blooms in spring and attractive foliage year-round.
8. Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Virginia Bluebells open with beautiful blue bell-shaped flowers that can turn pink in different conditions.
9. Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
This charming plant has soft, scalloped leaves and sprays of yellow-green flowers, perfect for adding contrast.
10. Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla)
Often called false forget-me-not, Brunnera produces sky-blue flowers in spring and features striking, heart-shaped leaves.
11. Gas Plant (Dictamnus albus)
A perennial known for its unique fragrance and star-shaped flowers, Gas Plant is both drought-tolerant and easy to maintain.
12. Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
This early bloomer produces fuzzy, purple flowers and seed heads that add visual interest long after blooms fade.
13. Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
With tall, spike-like white or purple flowers, Culver’s Root attracts pollinators and adds height to garden beds.
14. Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
This yellow-flowered plant is perfect for moist areas and attracts butterflies and beneficial insects.
15. Bowman’s Root (Gillenia trifoliata)
With star-shaped white flowers, Bowman’s Root brings an airy quality to garden beds and attracts pollinators.
16. Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)
This plant offers beautiful pink or white flowers on tall stalks, which can be positioned to “stay in place” when bent.
17. Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus)
With feathery white flowers, Goatsbeard resembles an astilbe and thrives in partial to full shade.
18. Bluestar (Amsonia)
This spring bloomer produces blue star-shaped flowers and golden fall foliage, adding multi-season appeal.
19. Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus mollis)
Bear’s Breeches feature large, spiky leaves and tall flower spikes that bring bold, architectural interest.
20. Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
This woodland plant has tall spikes of white flowers and thrives in shady areas, creating a dramatic statement.
21. False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
False Indigo offers tall spikes of blue flowers and bushy green foliage, creating a shrub-like appearance in garden beds.
22. Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)
This ground cover with small yellow flowers can brighten up shady garden edges or cascade from containers.
23. Masterwort (Astrantia)
With unique, star-shaped blooms in shades of pink, red, or white, Masterwort brings elegance to shaded garden spots.
24. Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum)
Known for its silvery fronds with purple stems, this fern adds stunning texture to shaded gardens.
25. Alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii)
This wildflower variety of coral bells has unique greenish blooms and foliage that changes colors in cooler months.
26. Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis)
Lungwort’s speckled leaves and pink-to-blue flowers make it a great shade plant for early spring interest.
27. Meadow Rue (Thalictrum)
Known for its delicate foliage and tall, airy flower clusters, Meadow Rue thrives in shady, moist spots.
28. Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum orientale)
One of the earliest perennials to bloom, Leopard’s Bane produces cheerful yellow daisies that brighten up spring gardens.
29. Cranesbill Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Not to be confused with annual geraniums, this hardy perennial has lovely purple blooms and is deer-resistant.