A few years ago, my garden absolutely sucked. Despite having a few plants and flowers, it was dull, lackluster, and extremely unappealing.
Truthfully, I never even felt like stepping inside it because of how lifeless it looked. In many instances, friends who would visit suggested that I turn my garden into a small farm instead.
Last year in October, however, I decided to make a change by planting a few new flowers in hopes of reviving the garden and breathing some life into it. In short – it was a success!
Here are 9 flowers I experimented with that made my garden more vibrant and colorful than ever!
9 Must-Plant Flowers In October For A Vibrant & Colorful Garden
9 – Asters
Aster is a solid choice for Autumn (October) planting. The perennial blooms large, generously-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, blue, and purple.
Asters are hardy and relatively easy to maintain, meaning you don’t have to spend a major portion of your day caring for them. They do, however, require full sun and six hours of sunlight a day at minimum to bloom to their fullest capacity.
Also check here my favorite fall border plants!
8 – Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas offer large, round blooms that will elevate your garden’s aesthetics to another dimension. They add color, vibrancy, and pop to your garden, especially when paired with plants that feature dense foliage.
Hydrangeas grow best in moist, well-draining soil and partial sun that isn’t blasting heat directly at them. Morning or afternoon sunlight is perfect for growth as it doesn’t have the same scorching effect on foliage.
7 – Pansy
The soft, velvety blooms of pansies work very well to add life to your garden. They come in different shades of red, blue, pink, yellow, and even black.
Many pansy flowers offer more than one color as well. It can be a combination of red and yellow or black and blue.
Regular watering, fertilization, and deadheading will keep pansies flowering to their fullest potential and get you the most vibrant blooms.
It’s best to plant pansies in pots as you’ll need to move them from direct sunlight to partial shade often. Pansy blooms don’t tolerate extended periods of direct sunlight very well.
6 – Coneflowers
When coneflowers are fully bloomed, they have a similar appearance to sunflowers if seen from a distance.
They offer bright yellow, orange, and faded red flowers that will bring a radiant look to your garden and add some much-needed color in dull or dead areas.
5 – Petunias
Soft, velvety petunia flowers that often come in colors like red, pink, blue, and purple are perfect for brightening up a dull garden.
Depending on the hardiness zone, they can be grown both perennially and annually.
If your garden lacks fullness, especially in the lower extremities, planting petunias can provide a quick fix as they spread rapidly and can cover a lot of area in one growing season.
4 – Dahlias
Dahlias offer dense foliage and magnificently vibrant blooms in different shades of blue, orange, white, yellow, black, and crimson.
Their diverse array of colors complements their spherical appearance and thick, lush foliage, making them ideal for October planting in the garden.
Most dahlias bloom 12-16 weeks after planting. However, there are varieties of this perennial that can begin blooming in as little as 8-10 weeks.
3 – Snapdragons
Snapdragon blooms grow tall and spiky. They prefer full sun and grow best with 7-9 hours of sunlight every day. Because the plant tends to grow quite tall, it’s best to plant it in the outer extremities of the garden to make it stand out more.
They feature flowers in bright shades of orange, red, pink, yellow, and white. Some snapdragon blooms can even feature more than one color which can be a unique look in the garden.
Also, when snapdragon blooms dry, they sort of resemble skulls, so yeah….
2 – Roses
Planting roses in your garden can be a very effective idea for mainly two reasons. Firstly, you’ll have your own roses for Valentine’s Day.
If your date forgets the roses or you have no date, at least you have roses in your garden that you can look at and feel something… Self-love, right?
Secondly, roses are an excellent addition to any garden. Ideally, you’d want a variety of different colors and not just red roses in the garden.
For those who didn’t know, yes, roses come in other colors too. The mildly cool October temperature will place less stress on newly planted roses and give them enough time to develop a solid root system.
1 – White Mistflower
As the name suggests, white mistflowers offer small but elegant-looking clusters of blooms.
They prefer full sun to partial shade for the best growth and tend to grow by spreading roots in width meaning they cover more ground area.
This is why many gardeners plant white mistflowers as ground cover so that they can make the lower extremities of the garden look fuller.
Final Words
October planting can be a little confusing because of all the different flower options you have. But, there’s a difference between the flowers you can have in your garden and the flowers you must have.
Every season brings gardeners new opportunities and Autumn brings you the opportunity to plant flowers that can really elevate your garden with unique and robust colors.
