Plant shrubs now for vibrant colors this fall

Now that spring is really here, it’s time to start planning for the fall. Right now, is the perfect time to critically review your property for areas that fall flat during the winter. You can still see the empty spots and it’s time to plant! What follows is a list of shrubs that provide a bouquet of fall colors for you to consider.

Itea virginica (Virginia sweetspire)

Growth: 3 to 5 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Red to orange.
Notable Features: This shrub shines with its small cascading white flowers in summer and vibrant fall foliage, making it an excellent alternative to burning bush, an invasive species, although it doesn’t get as tall as burning bush.

Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)

Growth: 9 to 15 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Orange to red.
Notable Features: Recognized for its striking color and upright fruit clusters, smooth sumac is drought-resistant and adaptable to various environments.

Viburnum opulus L. var. americanum Aiton (American cranberrybush)

Growth: 8 to 12 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Purplish-red.
Notable Features: Not only does it display vibrant fall foliage, but it also bears bright red berries that persist in winter, offering food for birds.

Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Growth: Up to 15 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Purple-red.
Notable Features: This large shrub or small tree provides spring flowers, autumn color, and fruit for wildlife. It’s drought tolerant once established.

Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)

Growth: Up to 6 feet tall and wide.
Autumn Colors: Red, though not as vivid as other shrubs.
Notable Features: Ninebark stands out for its peeling bark, spring flowers, and a form that provides visual interest throughout the year.

Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)

Growth: Up to 12 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Fiery reds and oranges.
Notable Features: Beyond their delicious berries, highbush blueberries offer striking fall foliage. They require acidic soil and adequate moisture to thrive.

Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry)

Growth: Up to 6 feet tall and wide.
Autumn Colors: Subtle foliage change; renowned for vibrant purple berries.
Notable Features: The neon lavender berries of American beautyberry steal the show in fall and winter, creating a spectacular contrast with its foliage and attracting wildlife.

Aronia spp. (chokeberry)

Growth: Up to 6 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Red.
Notable Features: Chokeberry is notable for its glossy summer foliage, white to pink spring flowers, and dark berries, along with its striking fall color. It’s a hardy, versatile plant suitable for various landscapes.

Corylus americana (American Hazelnut)

Growth: 10 to 16 feet tall and wide.
Autumn Colors: Yellow, orange, and red foliage.
Notable Features: This shrub is celebrated not just for its autumn color but also for its edible nuts that serve as important wildlife nourishment.

Lindera benzoin (spicebush)

Growth: 6 to 12 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Bright yellow leaves in autumn.
Notable Features: It’s a crucial host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. Fragrant yellow flowers in early spring and red berries in fall make it a year-round interest plant.

Euonymus americanus (strawberry bush)

Growth: 4 to 6 feet tall.
Autumn Colors: Reddish-purple leaves with bright red seed pods that reveal orange seeds.
Notable Features: Known colloquially as Hearts-a-Bustin’, this shrub offers unique visual interest with its colorful seed pods in addition to its fall foliage.

Rhus aromatica, fragrant sumac

Growth: 2 to 6 feet tall, making it an excellent ground cover or low shrub option.
Autumm Colors: A brilliant display of scarlet, orange, and purple leaves.
Notable Features: Drought-resistant and aromatic, this shrub is notable for its attractive foliage and berries that support local wildlife.

Planting these native shrubs in spring ensures they become well-established by fall, ready to showcase their brilliant autumn colors. Each species not only adds visual interest to the landscape during the cooler months but also supports local biodiversity by providing habitat and food for wildlife.

Comments are open, so please feel free to add your own favorites for fall color.

Call to Action: KNPS Now Accepting Applications for Native Plant Pollinator Garden Grant

Volunteers planting the pollinator garden. — ^{Volunteers planting the pollinator garden at EKU’s Science for Sustainable Living Initiative}

The Kentucky Native Plant Society (KNPS) is thrilled to announce the continuation of its Native Plant Pollinator Garden Grant, following a successful pilot phase last year. In its initial year, six grants of $500 each were awarded, marking a significant step towards promoting biodiversity and environmental education.

Our mission is to encourage people to establish pollinator gardens. They don’t have to be huge or even aesthetically beautiful for our purposes. They simply need to exist where humans can see them, commune with them, and learn about them.

The grant’s objective

The grant aims to foster the establishment of native plant pollinator gardens, emphasizing not only the ecological benefits but also the educational enrichment they provide. Through these gardens, KNPS seeks to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of native plant species and their crucial role in pollination.

This unique initiative partners with organizations that share an educational mission for two reasons:

Pollinator gardens often fail. They have plenty of people willing to help, but the organization often lacks the expertise to establish and maintain a successful garden.
We hope that these gardens will ‘put the bee in the bonnet’ of visitors. If only a few visitors go home and plant a few native plants for pollinator support, we all win.

These gardens can serve as vital educational tools, offering firsthand learning opportunities about pollination, plant species, and ecosystem health for our native plants.

Grant details

Details can be found on the application form, but in a nutshell, if you have a group of volunteers and a site that’s open to the public, within reason, or you plan to use the garden for educational purposes, and you have an educational partner, you qualify. If you don’t have an educational partner, we encourage you to apply because we can help you find someone.

To apply for a grant, follow this link to the KNPS Grants page. There you will find more details about the grant and a form to apply. But hurry, funds are limited. It doesn’t matter to us if you plant immediately or this fall, only that you plant in 2024. If you have any questions, email us at Grants@knps.org

What to give the native plant lover who has everything this holiday season …

Give the gift of a KNPS membership!

It’s that time of year, and if you’re looking for a special gift for someone who has everything and says, “I don’t need anything,” consider a KNPS membership or swag. Your gift is sure to be a big hit because it supports the KNPS mission:

The purpose of this organization shall be to serve as a medium of fellowship and information exchange among botanists, both amateur and professional, to promote conservation of native plants and natural plant communities of Kentucky; to promote public education in botanical science; and to encourage botanical research in Kentucky.

Membership is open to everyone. Anyone who appreciates native plants and understands the importance of preserving our natural heritage is welcome! You can even purchase a gift membership for an active member — we’ll simply extend their active membership.

Some members have lifetime memberships so for those folks, consider a donation in their name.

KNPS depends entirely on volunteers and the contributions of members and friends to accomplish our goals. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Pollinator grant program update

Tichenor Middle School in Erlanger got a late start on their pollinator garden, but the students put forth a spectacular effort. The garden will be fabulous this spring!

Steven McNabb, a teacher at Tichenor, is the adult sponsored for the project. WildOnes Cincinnati are providing educational support for the next two years to help ensure the garden’s success. The school received a $500 grant from Kentucky Native Plant Society, and Ironweed Native Plant Nursery in Waddy supplied the native plants.

The school is hoping to plant even more plants this spring if they can secure more funding.

Another pollinator garden grant!

We have one more pollinator garden grant to announce for 2023. Tichenor Middle School of Erlanger, KY received a $500 grant to start a pollinator garden this fall. Science teacher, Steven McNabb is the school’s sponsor and the Greater Cincinnati WildOnes chapter has agreed to be their educational partner for the next two years. Ironweed Native Plant Nursery in Waddy, Kentucky is supplying the plants.

They plan to break ground in the next few weeks, so the garden will be ready for spring.

Adding to The Lady Slipper team!

Sarah Grace and Jonathan Omar Cole Kubesch proudly introduce Joseph Cole Kubesch to the Kentucky Native Plant Society. Joseph joined the Kubesch family on August 20th and has taken quickly to life on the family’s turkey ranch in Pembroke, Virginia.

Jonathan is an editor for The Lady Slipper.

This photo shows editor Jonathan Jonathan Kubesch and family.

Find native plants at Native Roots Nursery pop-up events

By Susan Harkins

Contact Native Roots Nursery via their Facebook page and email.

This photo shows a beautiful butterfly on a buttbush bloom. — Photo: Lizzie Darling

Lizzie Darling started her native plant adventure in 2021, when she and her husband moved into a new home in Louisville. She noticed that many of the plants growing in their neighborhood were cultivars and even invasives, such as Japanese honeysuckle and winter creeper. After researching their origins, she learned that these plants prevented a more robust natural ecosystem from developing. Lizzie wanted a native habitat for wildlife and insects to thrive.

There are many reasons to plant natives Lizzie says. They’re beautiful, low maintenance, and hardy. They’ve adapted to the region, so nature supplies what they need. That means they need no fertilizer and little to no supplemental water once established. Natives provide food and shelter for wildlife thanks to their symbiotic relationship with the ecosystem. Consequently, natives require no pesticides to support good health. Finally, natives usually have deep roots that prevent erosion and water runoff, while enriching the soil for life beneath the surface. It’s a win for humans, flora, and fauna alike.

Yes, you’ll see the occasional insect having lunch, but in a balanced system, plants withstand the picnickers quite well.

In 2022, she began transforming her Louisville property, but was disappointed to find few natives at neighborhood nurseries. Dropseed Native Plant Nursery and Ironweed Native Plant Nursery proved to be excellent sources to meet her needs. But still looking for options closer to home and finding none, she decided to grow natives herself.

This photo is of Lizzie Darling, owner of Native Roots Nursery. — Lizzie Darling, owner of Native Roots Nursery.

This past winter, she began growing native plants from seed and removing nonnative invasives and improving her wildlife habitat.

She joined several gardening groups this past spring and found many local gardeners looking for natives. That’s when she began growing them to sell, after acquiring her nursery license. Now, she supplies plants for local companies, such as Native Oasis, who designs and maintains native plant landscaping.

Native Roots Nursery is sold out for the 2023 season but watch for their pop-up events come spring. They also sell at local markets throughout the Louisville area. To keep up with her pop-up and local market events, like her Facebook page.