Fall Gardening Task #2: New perennials for fall planting

This is the next installment in my fall gardening tasks list and one of my favorite subjects: new plants! 

Fall is a great time to plant herbaceous perennials and shrubs: 
they will be invisibly developing their root systems under the ground all winter;
they require less additional watering in fall than summer plantings;
it does not matter how big a mess you make of the work area around your new addition because everything is about to freeze anyway;
and because in PA in October plants go on sale! Check your local nurseries for some treasures.


For the Shade Path garden: This post is also a welcome to some new, old friends... a celebration in finally owning some plants that I have long admired!

 Purple leaved Cimicifuga 'Chocoholic' to bloom alongside the Japanese Anemone

 A stately purple-leaved foliage plant that takes a while to establish its self, but is worth the wait. 
(Note to Bev: I have one now too!)

Common name: Bugbane

 If you are a forest lover, you might spot the green-leaved bugbane out on an autumn walk. Its astilbe-like foliage is topped by these crazy sweet wand blooms. A great addition to any shade garden for fall! Hardiness zones 4 to 8.

The scent of these flowers is intoxicating from many feet away! Swoon.

Another plant with astilbe-like foliage...

Aruncus dioicus. Common name: Goat's beard

This one is supposed to handle dry shade. We shall see! It gets wonderful while plumes in the summer. Hardiness zones 4 to 8.

One for the Back Woodland:

Anemone multiflida 'Rubra'

This one says sun to part shade, so I am going to try it in a spot that gets morning sun and late day sun... we shall see how it does. I love anemones. All of them. I could not pass up trying this one. The tag says it is hardy to zone 2!

I love the divided, geranium-like foliage.

And lest you think I have forgotten the sun gardens, or the overflow of purple flowers in need of some balance in the Driveway Garden:

Oso Easy Paprika. ahem... Landscape Rose.

I will admit to needing to swallow my plant snobbery when I first found myself seriously considering this plant. Could I sink to the level of a "landscape rose?" But the fact is that I would not be a good gardener if I passed up a plant that will fit the needs that I have: that is, add a serious kick of orange to this bed, add another smallish shrub for structure (tag says 2' x 3' max), and bloom all summer/fall.

If you decide that you too must give in, then know that it surely is hardy where you live, unless it is with the polar bears or in Ecuador (zones 3-9).

Happy plant shopping!