These days, the best way to see the lingering fall colors is by looking at the ground. Most of our trees have dropped their leaves, but color remains at ground level in the fallen foliage or in smaller landscape plants that still retain their autumnal hues.
This year, I have been really impressed with the fall display from many of my native prairie plants. Grasses always have nice color, from the purplish-red tints in little blue stem (Schizachyrium scoparium) to the contrasting yellow and green slender leaves of prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) fading to a more neutral tone for winter, and they are typically where my focus turns in late fall.
However, a few forbs in my garden this year have really had a spectacular fall display. I think these plants need more consideration when contemplating new garden additions to extend fall color.
A few years ago, I added Bradbury’s bee balm (Monarda bradburiana) in various spots around our front yard. I choose it for two reasons, one being its smaller stature and the other being its early bloom time.
Since it’s a smaller plant, it fits nicely at the edges of beds, framed by taller plants behind. I’ve used it to soften hard edges, such as along our driveway and front walkway. We’ve also added it into empty spots that need a filler. With its smaller size (about 2 ft tall by 1-2ft wide) and relative shade tolerance, a few plants can fit almost anywhere.
On the downside, it does tend to flop over in more shaded locations. I’ve found this sometimes-sprawling habit quite attractive when using the plant to transition to a hard edge. However, in some instances, such as when intermixed throughout a planting with varying-sized plants, the flopping can leave some unwanted low or bare spots.
Its splendid, light-pink blooms emerge around May and stick around for a few weeks. They have the characteristic composite flower shape of Monarda, which resembles a tiny firework exploding with colorful tubular flowers. Upon closer inspection, Bradbury’s bee balm has intricate, dark-red to maroon speckles on its petals, which serve as nectar guides for pollinators and colorful contrasts to the human eye.
When in bloom, it’s certainly an early pollinator favorite, offering both nectar and pollen. It attracts nearly all pollinator groups, including hummingbirds. With fragrant foliage, having somewhat of an oregano scent, it’s rarely a victim of mammalian herbivory. Foliage also serves as a food source for four species of native moth, making it a supportive host plant as well.
Fall color starts slowly early in the season and intensifies as cooler weather sets in. It slowly fades with frosts, but attractive seed heads and muted leaf color persist for most of winter.
Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) has been a newer favorite of mine after watching its prolific bloom each year in the Master Naturalists demonstration prairie near the first stoplight as eastbound I-72 enters Champaign. The plant seems to bloom for over a month in early summer, creating this small prairie’s most dramatic display of the growing season.
With its taller height (up to 4ft) and slender spread, this plant can really be a showstopper in the garden when blooming in a mass. Clusters of interesting white flowers cover the upper stems and attract nearly all pollinator groups. I recommend groupings of five plants or more to create the full effect during bloom time.
I appreciate its larger, bright green leaves in summer, but they start to make waves in fall, slowly transitioning to bright red or even purplish. Basal leaves change color last (or sometimes not at all), leaving an interesting contrast up and down the plant.
It’s safe to say that this plant retains quite a bit of color throughout fall and well into wintertime. After leaves along upper stems drop in winter, the basal rosette of leaves remains and stays semi-evergreen. In spring, this plant is one of the first green things as its basal leaves rebound and start growing early.
Seed capsules persist into winter, providing some additional interest. However, this plant can be an aggressive re-seeder, which leads me to sometimes pick them off before spring.
A Word of Caution About Cultivars
Foxglove beardtongue is commonly available from native plant sales and sometimes in larger nurseries. However, be wary of the various cultivated varieties and hybrids of this plant. Some of them, such as ‘Dark Towers’, can be very aggressive re-seeders. Although many of these cultivars and hybrids have interestingly colored foliage (like ‘Husker Red’), remember that these changes through human breeding may not be as attractive to native insects, reducing their ecological value in the garden.
For more information on these spectacular natives and many others, please visit the Illinois Pollinators website.
Thumbnail Photo Caption: Bradbury’s bee balm is a shorter plant with an excellent fall color that works nicely at the edge of landscape beds.