Tag: Autumn

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The 10 Best Plants For Autumn Flowering in Australia

Written by coldev on 15/04/2025. Posted in Garden Ideas, Plants, Top 10 Lists.

We all know about beautiful autumn foliage, the fiery reds, deep purples, striking golds and vibrant oranges. We’ve written extensively about these plants, from the big, towering trees, to the small shrubs anyone can fit in their garden.

But what we haven’t written about yet is the beautiful plants that provide colour in different ways during autumn – with their flowers.

Jump straight to the 10 best plants for autumn flowering:

1. Japanese Anemone Windflowers
2. Sedum Autumn Joy
3. Camellia sasanqua
4. Dahlia
5. Mexican Bush Sage Salvia
6. Chrysanthemums
7. Hellebores Winter Roses
8. Begonia
9. Kangaroo Paw
10. Marigold

Now, you should definitely still have plants with stunning autumn foliage in the garden too. Here’s all the articles we’ve written about that to help you pick the best one for your tastes and needs:

Overall Best Plants For Autumn Colour
Top 10 Best Autumn Shrubs
Top 10 Autumn Trees

We’ve got a beautiful range here of autumn flowering plants so let’s jump right into it.

Japanese Anemone Windflowers

These delicate poppy-like flowers are perfect for someone looking to elevate the elegance in their garden for little effort.

Here are some of the things we love about Japanese Anemone Windflower:

Low maintenance and resistant to pests
Upright growing habit makes it perfect for any sized garden
Versatile and can be mass planted, grown in a pot or planted as a border
Can choose between pink, purple and white shades for suits your garden best
Can grow in full sun or part shade
Attracts bees and butterflies

Sedum Autumn Joy

With a name like that, how could this gorgeous succulent plant not be on our list? Sedum Autumn Joy is what you pick when you want something that is cottage style, you have a very sunny spot and not a lot of time to take care it.

Here are some of the positives about Autumn Joy:

Thrives even with minimal care
Drought tolerant and can grow in many soil types (but not soggy soils)
Large deep pink flowers that deepen into a bronze hue in autumn
Attracts bees and butterflies
Interesting type of foliage with fleshy green leaves

Camellia sasanqua

If you’re looking for a privacy screen that will add elegance to your home, look no further than Camellia sasanqua. You can also plant them as a tall feature.

Other reasons you should choose Camellia sasanqua are:

Range of colours you can choose from including pink, white, red and purple
Can grow it in a sunny or part shade position
Also flowers in winter giving you colour during the greyest times
Glossy lush foliage that looks great all year
Can grow up to 5 metres tall or pruned to keep smaller

Dahlia

These are some real show-stopping flowers with an extraordinary range of colourways and are perfect for those looking for something really striking in the garden.

Let us tell you a bit more about Dahlias:

Some varieties are multi-coloured which creates even more visual interest
Flowers are large in size
Grows best in full sun and well drained soils
Attracts birds, butterflies and bees.
Perfect for cut flowers
Regular deadheading and fertilising will prolong the flowering

Mexican Bush Sage Salvia

For those wanting a good sized hedge that is very easy to grow and has flowers for ages, Mexican Bush Sage Salvia is the plant for you.

Here are some other things we love about Mexican Bush Sage Salvia:

It is fast growing so you can save money and buy a small plant and let it grow big
It also flowers throughout winter so you can have those stunning purple flowers for months on end
It is drought resistant and thrives in full sun
Makes for fantastic cut flowers
Rabbits ignore it, but butterflies love it
Can be grown in containers, as a border, or a hedge
Are also other varieties of Salvia that bloom in autumn if you’re looking for something slightly different

Chrysanthemums

Get the classic autumn colours of yellows, reds and oranges with the stunning multi-petaled Chrysanthemums. This is the plant to choose when you want something that is truly striking and will solicit many compliments from others.

There are so many reasons we adore Chrysanthemums, here are some of them:

A huge range of colours to choose from including yellow, orange, red, pink, white or purple
Can choose between the garden bed or a pot to grow it in
Love full sun and well-drained soil
Wonderful as cut flowers
Pest and disease free
Are quite low maintenance

Hellebores Winter Roses

Now these may be called the Winter Rose, but they make for incredible autumn flowers. If you love the delicate beauty of Japanese Anemones but want slightly larger flowers, these are perfect for you.

Read on for more reasons to love Hellebores:

Choose between white, pink or purple shades
Cup shaped flowers that add a whimsical touch
Great for partially shady spots with moist rich soil
Perfect for mass planted under trees
Dark green glossy leaves

Begonia

When you have a partially-shady spot that needs filling and want flowers for ages in the garden, Begonia is a great choice for you.

Here are some more wonderful things about Begonias:

They flower from late summer through autumn
Can be grown in dappled light or partial shade
A wide range of colours available including pink, white, orange, red and yellow
Are quite low maintenance as long as they have well-drained soil
Great for pots on balconies or patios

Kangaroo Paw

Kangaroo Paw is the perfect plant for when you have a Native garden but still want stunning autumn flowers.

Even if you don’t have a native garden, here are some reasons to plant Kangaroo Paws:

Uniquely shaped fuzzy flowers
Vibrant colours to choose from in red, yellow, black and pink
Thrives in full sun and sandy, well-draining soil
Attracts birds
Hardy, vigorous and low maintenance
Great for cut flowers
Great mass planted – can even alternate different colours for greater visual interest

Marigold

Marigolds are such a cute addition to any garden but are particularly great for those wanting to add some warmth through vibrant yellow colour.

Here’s a bit more about Marigolds:

Great border plants
Low maintenance
Repels pests
Grows in full sun to part shade with well-draining soil

In Closing

There you have it! The top 10 best plants for autumn flowering in Australia. We believe autumn is a time of great colour in the garden – it can even be more colourful than your spring or summer garden!

We hope this blog has inspired you to think outside the box when creating your dream autumn garden.

Feeling inspired to create your own garden, but want some expert advice? Try our one-on-one garden design service with Chris. Together you’ll come up with a selection of plants along with a layout plan that gives you the look you want, as well as being suitable for your local soil and conditions.

get your own tailored modern garden design:

FIND OUT HOW

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Why do leaves change colour in autumn and fall off?

Written by coldev on 24/04/2023. Posted in Garden Advice.

Autumn is a spectacular time of the year. Trees across Melbourne turn fluorescent yellows, oranges and reds, giving us one last big splash of colour before the cold starkness of winter rolls in. However, this show isn’t put on for our visual pleasure but has a very specific purpose.

Why do some trees lose their leaves and others don’t?

There are two types of tree – evergreen and deciduous.

Evergreen trees are just as the name suggests, they keep their leaves all year.
Deciduous trees on the other hand deliberately lose their leaves in autumn and remain bare through the colder, darker months until the temperatures warm up again.

During the colder months it is harder for plants to photosynthesize (create food from sunlight) due to the reduction in sunlight hours. Leaves catch the wind of storms and help hold heavy snow, creating strain on branches and potential damage. If the tree loses these leaves, the wind can blow through branches with ease and snow has far less surface area to land. Plus the tree isn’t straining to produce food. Instead it reserves its energy throughout the winter and waits for the warmer months where it goes all out in nutrient production.

Deciduous trees tend to grow slower, potentially due to this process, but in turn produce denser, harder woods. Evergreen trees are generally softer woods (with the exception of Australian native trees) and grow quite quickly.

Leaves fall after the tree has finished breaking down the chlorophyll and reabsorbing all the nutrients, which it then stores in its roots over winter. The other pre-existing pigments start to become more prevalent in the leaves, thus the beautiful autumnal colours start to come out! The tree then discards the leaves as they are no longer needed.

Why do leaves change colour?

The colour of leaves come from pigments created by leaf cells, which aid them in creating food. Leaves change colour due to the breakdown of the most dominant pigment, chlorophyll, leaving the others to take over the show.

There are four pigments that affect the colour of leaves.

Green Foliage – Chlorophyll

Seen throughout the warmer months and kept in the leaves of evergreen trees, this pigment assists in photosynthesis (the process of turning sunlight into food).

Orange Autumn Foliage – Carotene

Carotene brings a beautifully vibrant orange to plants such as Crepe Myrtles, Sugar Maples and Smoke Bush. It sounds like ‘carrot’ because it is also responsible for giving carrots their orange colour!

Yellow Autumn Foliage – Xanthophyll

Xanthophyll is responsible for the fluorsecent yellows we see in Ashes, Birches and some Maples. It is another pigment found in foods such as corn and squash, giving them their yellow colour.

Red Autumn Foliage – Anthocyanin

Seen in many Oaks and Maples, Anthocyanin gives us that fiery red and rich claret foliage we love so much. Unlike the others, this pigment is created as the chlorophyll is broken down.