Beyond Mums: Native Alternatives to Support Late Season Pollinators

Fall is here, and it’s time for pumpkins, cornstalks, ghosts, goblins, and black cats! But it’s also the time when non-native chrysanthemums (mums) and ornamental kale and cabbage take over every doorstep and planter. While there’s nothing wrong with using a few of these for fall decorations, there are better options that will support our native late-season pollinators. Unlike common pot mums, kale/cabbage, and hot house asters (which despise hot weather, so don’t buy them before mid September), fall-blooming native perennials support native bumble bees, sweat bees, tiny carpenter bees, flower flies, solitary wasps, and many more. You can plant these plants directly into your garden once they’re done blooming or leave them in the planter for a few years. These are all perennials, so they don’t need to be protected over the winter.

Fall Blooming Native Perennials for Planters and the Garden:

*pictures below

Perennials:

• Sweet Goldenrod (Solidago odora)*

• Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

• Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia)

• Wrinkleleaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)

  • 'Fireworks'

• Michaelmas Daisy (Symphyotrichum dumosus)

  • 'Wood's Pink', 'Wood's Light Blue'

• Aromatic Aster (Symphyotricum oblongifolius)

  • 'October Skies', 'Raydon's Favorite'*

• New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

  • 'Purple Dome', 'Grape Crush'

• New York Aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii)

• Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

• Heath Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides)

  • 'Snow Flurry'*

• Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriifolium)

  • 'Lady in Black'*

• White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)

  • 'Eastern Star'

• American Alumroot aka Coral Bells (Heuchera americana)

  • 'Green Spice'*, 'Dale's Strain'

• Hairy Alumroot (Heuchera villosa)

  • 'Obsidian', 'Black Sea', 'Caramel'

• New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)*

• Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale)*

• Brown-eyed Susan aka Gold Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida)*

• Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)*

Grasses & Sedges:

• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

  • 'Northwind' and 'Shenandoah'

• Wild Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

  • 'Standing Ovation'

• Prarie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

• Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)

• Eastern Narrowleaf Sedge (Carex amphibola)

  
  

Shrubs:

• American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)"

• Sweetspire (Ilex virginica)

  • 'Little Henry'* and 'Henry's Garnet'

• Inkberry (Ilex glabra) 'Shamrock'*

• Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)*

Ferns:

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

Top Row: Aromatic Aster, Calico Aster, Sweet Goldenrod; Second Row: Obedient Plant, Buttonbush, NY Ironweed; Third Row: 'Grape Crush', Helen's Flower, Inkberry 'Shamrock', Fourth Row: American Beautyberry, Sweetspire 'Little Henry', Gold Coneflower, Bottom Row: Blue Wood Aster, American Alumroot 'Green Spice', Heath Aster 'Snowflurry'