My name is John Markowski. I garden in Zone 6B, in rural New Jersey, where I’m surrounded by deer and the soil is wet clay 24/7. Because of that, I focus on native shrubs, perennials, and my personal fave, ornamental grasses.
It is all about seed heads and fall foliage in this photo. Tall Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis, Zones 5–9) rises up in the background, with a mass of Autumn Joy sedum (Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Herbstfreude’, Zones 3–10) in the foreground. On the left, a Viburnum shrub is starting to color up for autumn as well.
With the right choices, your perennials and shrubs can provide just as much color and interest in the fall as the foliage on the trees.
A dark-leaved ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius, Zones 2–8) flushing even darker and more dramatic with fall sets off the gold foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii (Zones 5–8).
Though the reds and yellows are wonderful, all the shades of brown are a beautiful part of the fall garden.
There are a few blooms still in the garden—such as the purple trumpets of obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana, Zones 3–9) in the lower right corner—but the fall foliage is the star of the show.
The ornamental grasses look beautiful, and the red maple (Acer rubrum, Zones 3–9) to the right is living up to its name with incredible fall color.
We’ve visited John’s beautiful garden before, so if you want to see what it looks like at other times of the year, check it out: John’s Garden in New Jersey, Revisited.
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