-- Nicola Cataldo, Retail Operations Director

Fall planting is upon us. Cooler temperatures and fall rains make this an ideal time for one last round of planting. Next spring you’ll be glad you did. We still have a full selection of trees, shrubs, ferns and grasses on hand, fresh from our own growers at Nasami Farm.

It is a happy coincidence that some of the most glorious fall foliage and berries can be had on some of the easiest native New England shrubs and there are some for every growing condition. Despite the unappealing name, chokeberries make a delicious and healthful traditional jam for humans. Birds and chipmunks take them straight. Aronia melanocarpa has purplish leaves in fall and purple-black berries.  Aronia arbutifoia has blazing red and orange leaves and red berries. 

The many species of viburnum also have dramatic fall foliage and a choice of designer colors in the berries. The big red berries of Viburnum opulus var. americanum earned it the common name, American cranberry. Viburnum acerifolium. (mapleleaf viburnum) has clusters of blue-black berries and foliage color to rival its namesake tree. The many Cornus (dogwood) species also offer foliage color and berries for wildlife and you will never forget the stunning lapis blue berries of Cornus ammomum (silky dogwood).

If you don’t have room for more shrubs, tidy groundcovers like Gaylussacia spp. (huckleberry) Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry), and Vaccinium angustifolium (lowbush blueberry) can give you a shot of color in a corner where the summer flowers have petered out. Or walk through our display gardens and see what appeals to you.