Perk Up Your Garden with Fall Annuals

Fall annuals are perfect for swapping out tired plants in container gardens, tucking into beds and borders for more seasonal color, or adding fresh looks to front doors, patios or decks. Learn about several colorful fall annuals in this Better Homes and Gardens video:

Ornamental peppers are easy to grow and bear colorful fruits in shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, purple and black. Some are spicy hot, while others have non-pungent fruits and are safe to grow around small children. Some varieties have beautiful variegated foliage as well. Ornamental peppers do not tolerate frost and will need to be covered or protected if frost is predicted.

Pansies produce cheery edible flowers in shades of red, orange, yellow, white, purple and blue. They are very hardy and easily withstand cold temperatures. Pansies will often survive winters and bloom again the following spring.

Strawflowers are colorful annuals with paper-like petals that are perfect for use in dry floral preps. Blooms appear in shades of yellow, orange, red, pink and white. Like ornamental peppers, they do not tolerate frost so they will need protection from freezing temperatures.

Flowering Kale, a relative of cabbage, adds wonderful texture to fall gardens with its pink, purple or white leaves and holds up well to freezing temperatures.

Calibrachoa holds up well to cold temperatures. Commonly thought of as a summer annual, it is a natural for fall container gardens with its jewel-tone flowers in many colors and its spilling, trailing habit, making it a fun choice for cascading over containers.