Autumn Flowers: Trees and Shrubs
That Bloom in the Fall

Trees and shrubs with autumn flowers are to be treasured for their non-conformist habit of blooming late in the year, and all the more so because there are so few of them. When memories of spring's glories are long gone, along come these rebels with welcome surprise and color--some right along with lovely shades of autumn leaves as well.

Abelia x grandiflora, glossy abelia, Zones 6-9.  Here is a flowering shrub that doesn’t know when to quit blooming.  It goes non-stop from late spring until stopped by frost in many areas.  Small white or pink tubular flowers occur in clusters on slender arching branches,  Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators adore it.  Semi-evergreen in the South, and is often the first shrub to start leafing out in spring.  A fast grower, abelia benefits from a severe cutback every few years.  New cultivars have been developed for compactness and interesting variegated foliage colors.  Some to look for include ‘Kaleidoscope,’ ‘Miss Lemon™,’ ‘Mardi Gras,’ and Suntastic™ ‘Radiance.’’

Abelia x grandiflora, glossy abelia, has white or pinkish blooms that start in late spring and continue until frost.Abelia x grandiflora
Abelia x grandiflora 'Mardi Gras' blooms in white, but the flower are almost secondary to the beautiful variegated foliage of green with cream edges and rosy new growth.Abelia x grandiflora 'Mardi Gras'
Abelia x grandiflorz Suntastic™ ‘Radiance.' has cream and green variegated foliage.  New grwoth is a limey-green which contrasts nicely with the red stems and white flowers.Abelia x grandiflora 'Radiance'

Arbutus unedo, strawberry tree, Zones 7-9. This evergreen shrub produces small, white blueberry-like autumn flowers and the strawberry-like fruit appears the following year.

Arbutus unedo, or strawberry tree, produces white, urn-shaped, blueberry-like flowers in the autumn.Arbutus unedo

Camellias for Autumn Flowers

Camellia sasanqua, sasanqua camellia, Zones 7-9. Camellia sasanquas are the most beloved of fall blooming shrubs.'Yuletide' shown below.' Click here to see some favorite varieties.

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' is a red culitvar with single flowers appearing in fall.Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'

Camellia sinensis, tea plant, Zones 6-9. This fall blooming shrub is the plant from which tea is made and it also makes a superb garden plant. The small white flowers occur throughout the fall.

Camellia sinensis, from which tea is made, makes a lovely garden plant.  The small white flowers appear in autumn.Camellia sinensis

Fatsia japonica, Japanese fatsia or aralia, Zones 8-10. 1-1 1/2" white globular flower umbels form a large collective panicle in the center of the palmate leaves in mid-to late fall, followed by small black fruits. Prefers shade.

Fatsia japonica has white globular flower umbels that form a large collective panicle in the center of the palmate leaves in mid-to late fallFatsia japonica in bloom

Hamamelis virginiana, witch hazel, Zones 3-8. Fragrant yellow long-petaled flowers often occur at the same time as the leaves turn a clear yellow in the fall. One of our best native shrubs.

Hamamelis virginiana has strappy, fragrant yellow flowers that appear in autumn often along with the yellowing leaves.Hamamelis virginiana

Jasminium officinale, common white jasmine, Zones 8-10. The fragrant white flowers appear through October and are prized in the warmer parts of the country.

Osmanthus for Autumn Flowers
and Sweet Fragrance

Osmanthus fragrans, fragrant tea olive, Zones 7-10.  If I only had one fall-blooming shrub, this would be it!   The sweet, delicious scent from the tiny white flowers September into March is intoxicating, but never over-powering. The one pictured below is called 'Fudingzhu,' which is especially heavy-blooming, and there are several others including an orange-flowered one called 'Orange Supreme.' Osmanthus f. var. aurantiacus is another good orange one--see below. Outstanding fragrance. A beautiful variegated form is 'Yinbi Shuanghui' which has green and cream foliage with pink new growth and blooms in fall and intermittently through spring.  

Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu' is a particularly heavy blooming variety of osmanthus.  The white flowers, though individually tiny, exude the loveliest perfume.Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu'

Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus, orange tea olive, Zones 7-10. this osmanthus has the benefit of orange autumn flowers that are perfect with fall hues--and, of course, great fragrance!  However, it only blooms in fall.

Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus is an orange flowering variety of osmanthus with very showy clusters of flowers in the autumn.Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus

Osmanthus fragrans 'Apricot Echo,' Zones 7-10.  This cultivar of osmanthus has soft apricot flowers and has the advantage of repeat blooming, unlike O. fragrans var. aurantiacus.

Osmanthus fragrans 'Apricot Echo' has soft apricot flowers that bloom in the autumn and repeat intermittently in the winter and spring.Osmanthus fragrans 'Apricot Echo'

Osmanthus fragrans 'Yinbi Shuanghui, variegated tea olive, Zones 7-10.  An outstanding ornamental tea olive with variegated foliage of cream, green and pink.  Fragrant white flowers appear in fall and repeat into spring.

Osmanthus fragrans 'Yinbi Schuanghui' has variegated foliage of cream, green and pink together with deliciously fragrant white flowers.Osmanthus fragrans 'Yinbi Schuanghui'

Osmanthus heterophyllus, holly osmanthus, Zones 6-9. Highly fragrant white flowers, and hardier than O. fragrans. Most cultivars have spiny leaves resembling holly.

Osmanthus heterophyllus "Gulftide' has fragrant white flowers in the autumn.  The leaves are spiny and resemble holly.Osmanthus heterophyllus "Gulftide'

Potentilla fruticosa, bush cinquefoil, Zones 2-6. Small shrub that flowers summer until frost primarily in yellow, but also pink and orange-red. Best in the North.

Roses for Autumn Flowers

Many hybrid tea roses and others such as the Drift® roses, and Knock Out® roses are good sources for autumn flowers as they will bloom until frost.

I like the David Austin English roses also for their habit of waves of blooms from spring until stopped by the cold. 'Graham Thomas,' named for the famous rosarian, has beautiful golden blooms with a hint of apricot and often there will be buds left on the plant that did not have a chance to open. 'Anne Boleyn,' named for King Henry VIII's 2nd wife (looks like she's hanging her head for the executioner), was blooming in November (in Georgia.

Rosa 'Anne Boleyn,' named for the 2nd wife of Henry VIII, is a medium pink on a 4' shrub making it ideal for smaller gardens.Rosa 'Anne Boleyn'
Rosa 'Graham Thomas,' named for the famous rosarian, is a gorgeous golden-yellow with a delicious scent.Rosa 'Graham Thomas'

Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis,' butterfly rose. Zones 7-8.  This rose  is fascinating in that the five-petaled single flowers change color as they mature. Opening yellow, each flower goes through several “mutations” from peach to pink to deep rose-pink.  So, when in full bloom all the colors can be present simultaneously.  And as it blooms from late spring right up ‘til frost, the show lasts a long time. 

Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis' has five-petaled single flowers that change color as they mature. Opening yellow, each flower goes through several “mutations” from peach to pink to deep rose-pink.  So, when in full bloom all the colors can be present simultaneously.  And as it blooms from late spring right up ‘til frost, the show lasts a long time.Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis

Rosa rugosa, beach rose, Zones 2-7. Deep pink fragrant single flowers bloom heavily in summer and continue intermittently until frost.  The flowers are followed by large, red hips which make a delicious jelly.  A tough plant, Rosa rugosa is a common sight on the seashore, where it can tolerate salt-spray and strong wind.  The is a white one, 'Alba,' and also other cultivars.  See Species Roses.

Rosa rugosa has single deep pink fragrant flowers followed by large, red hips.Rosa rugosa
Rosa rugosa 'Alba' has large white flowers followed by large deccorative red hips. Perfect the the seashore.Rosa rugosa 'Alba'

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