by Raven Lebeau

Created on: February 18, 2008

1. Re-blooming iris

Most iris varieties bloom in the spring or early summer. The "re-blooming" cultivars bloom again in the fall and have attractive green foliage in between. Irises will need to be dug up and divided after three to five years. Their rhizomes grow into large clumps that will become clogged and infected if not split into their individual pieces. Once you have done this, you can replant as many as you like and sell or give away the rest. Better yet, use the iris rhizomes to trade other plant lovers for some other plant you want.

Because irises do reproduce so well, keep this in mind when buying rhizomes. They may seem pricy, but in the long run they will fill a lot of flower bed space and give you a great value.

Stargazerperennials.com has a nice selection of irises including the re-blooming "immortality" variety.

2. Chrysanthemums

Hardy mums will not only bloom year after year, they will spread out and take over a whole flowerbed. Plant them in the same bed as your irises, and you'll have a full-scale botanical battle. My irises were winning, so I had to dig them up and remove some of them. I now have an iris border along my sidewalk and the chrysanthemums have grown back as healthy as ever.

With lovely blooms that come in traditional fall colors like rust, gold, and plumb, mums are a great way to give your flowerbed some fall color. They are low maintenance and disease resistant. Also, they make excellent cut or dried flowers.

3. Helianthus

These small, perennial "sunflowers" have bold yellow blooms that will nicely accent an iris in a contrasting color. Purple iris and golden helianthus would make a striking combination. Butterflies are attracted to Helianthus, providing a delightful natural decoration for your flowerbed.

4. Helenium

The warm rust color of these simple blossoms is similar to that of some chrysanthemums, but the flowers are different enough in shape that having both would add visual interest. The yellow variety of helenium is known as "sneeze weed" or "false sunflower". It grows as a weed in most parts of the US and has a tendency to spread into lawns. It's uncanny ability to survive and reproduce makes it an excellent choice for areas with harsh growing conditions.

5. Asters

These delicate flowers may be lavender, pink, red, or white. Like a mum, an aster will produce many small blossoms, which means that a fully blooming aster will have more of the flower color that green. Adding just a few asters to your flowerbed will result in dramatic amount of color.

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