The Commemoration

The Statewide Garden Theme

As part of the Jamestown commemoration, communities and citizens will be improving their streets, parks, schools, businesses, and gardens to spotlight the horticultural diversity and beauty of Virginia. Virginia Cooperative Extension developed the America’s Anniversary Garden™ (AAG) to help individuals, communities, and groups commemorate America’s 400th anniversary with a signature landscape or garden. These signature gardens have red, white, and blue color schemes and are being promoted throughout Virginia and beyond. Other VCE garden design, plant selection, plant installation, and maintenance publications for America’s Anniversary Garden™ are listed in the Resources section.

The Challenge of Fall and Winter Garden Color

Spring and summer gardens are easy to plan, regardless of color scheme, because thousands of species and cultivars of annual and perennial flowers grow and bloom during those seasons. Designing color into fall and winter gardens isn’t as easy because fewer flowers are available that can survive cold temperatures.

For fall and winter garden color we rely heavily on the leaves, fruit, and bark of woody plants. A tree or shrub already existing in your garden may have red fall leaf color that can serve as the background for a red, white, and blue fall and winter annual or perennial garden. If not, you might want to start a new garden, selecting trees and shrubs with fall and winter color, that is based on our sample designs from Plant America’s Anniversary Garden™ or America’s Anniversary Garden™: A Statewide Corridor and Entrance Enhancement Program (see Resources section).

If you start a new garden this fall or winter, you can design a progression of red, white, and blue flower color for next year starting with the pansies suggested in this publication, the spring bulbs suggested in America’s Anniversary Garden™: Bulbs for a Red, White, and Blue Spring Garden, and the annuals and perennials suggested in Plant America’s Anniversary Garden™ or America’s Anniversary Garden™: A Statewide Corridor and Entrance Enhancement Program (see Resources section).

Perennial Flowers for Fall Red, White, and Blue Color

Asters dominate the late-autumn perennial border, and there are many native species and hybrids suitable for the AAG color motif. White wood aster (Aster divaricatus) is a tough native perennial with metallic deep green foliage and sparkling white autumn flowers that is best used in part shade. Aster azureus, the sky blue aster, blooms deep blue. There are several cultivars of Aster novaeangliae (New England aster) with clean white flowers including ‘Lyon’s White’ and ‘Wedding Lace.’ Of the hundreds of cultivars of New York asters (Aster novi-belgii) available there are true crimson-reds (‘Alert,’ ‘Crimson Brocade,’ ‘The Bishop,’ and ‘Royal Ruby’) and blues (‘Lady in Blue,’ ‘Buxton’s Blue,’ and ‘Climax’). Aster tartaricus, the tartarian daisy, is non-native but definitely garden worthy. This is one the latest blooming asters (October and November), tolerant of light frost, and perfect for the AAG display if you don’t mind a touch of violet in your blue.

Leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is a tough but beautiful groundcover with royal blue flowers throughout the summer and fall. A bonus with the leadwort is that once the temperatures dip in the autumn, the foliage turns red-bronze. Hybrid anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’) sports white poppy-like flowers atop tall wiry stems. “Hardy” fallblooming mums (Chrysanthemum hybrids) are available in deep red and creamy white, but be aware that many mums sold as “hardy” may not come back next year and are best treated as a one-time color boost for autumn.

Annual Flowers for Fall and Winter Red, White, and Blue Color

Both pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) and violas (Viola x cornuta) are perfect for cool season color in the late fall, winter, and early spring. As with many annuals, seed companies market pansies and violas not as individual cultivars, but as “series.” A series is a group of plants selected for similar habit and growing qualities but not necessarily genetically related. Nearly every pansy series has red, white, and blue options. For example, a widely-grown, well-performing series is the Delta hybrids, available in clear red, white, and blue. For those who like a “face” or darker blotch on their pansies, there’s the Delta Spirit Mix, red with blotch, blue with blotch, and solid white.

You can also plan ahead and combine fall and winter pansies with late-winter or early-spring blooming bulbs.

Seed trials across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic have shown the smaller-flowered viola hybrids (often called Johnny jump-ups) to be more weather resistant and cold tolerant than large-flowered pansies that are the best choice for AAG’s in zone 6. Two popular series of violas are the Sorbet hybrids and the Penny hybrids – both have several blue and white selections, and at least one red. Penny’s White, Deep Blue, and Red Blotch make a great combination, as do Sorbet’s Coconut and Blue Ice (there is no scarlet or red in the Sorbet series).

Ornamental kale and cabbage (Brassica oleraceae hybrids) thrive in cool weather and lend texture and novelty to the winter color planting. The Colorup and Osaka series of ornamental cabbage feature red and creamy white selections, as do the Nagoya, Peacock, and Chidori hybrids of ornamental kale. Ornamental kale leaves are more feathery or rippled than those of cabbage, which is more compact. For the best garden performance, plant ornamental cabbages and kales in the fall so they have time to become established before really cold weather.