The Best Plants for Fall Color

There are many trees, shrubs and vines that can add vivid fall colors to your yard with their colorful leaves and berries. Some, which bear fruit, will attract beautiful songbirds to your garden as well!

The following is a list of our top favorites for fall color. Be sure to select the plants and trees that grow best in your area.

Pyracantha - Pyracantha, also known as firethorn, features thick clusters of bright red or orange berries in the fall. This fast growing evergreen shrub features glossy green leaves and looks good trained on a garden arbor, trellis or obelisk. Pyracantha prefers full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil. Many wild birds LOVE these berries!

Burning Bush - Burning bush comes in many varieties, but all provide foliage outstanding in fall colors. The 'Rudy Haag' variety is a favorite because it is a true dwarf, making it easy to maintain. It likes well-drained soil, will tolerate drought, and performs best in a sunny location.

Sumac - The colorful leaves of many non-poisonous sumac provide dramatic fall colors ranging from red or maroon to gold. The tightly packed, cone shaped berry clusters ripen to deep red in the fall and stay on the plant through winter, attracting many wild birds.

Virginia Creeper - Virginia Creeper will bring beauty as well as many songbirds to your garden. This rambling vine's green leaves turn to brilliant red and burgundy in the fall. Deep blue berry clusters along the red stems make a wonderful contrast in Autumn. Best if trained on a wall or trellis.

Blackhaw Viburnum - The Blackhaw Viburnum shrub yields white flowers in May, which become an edible fruit at harvest time. Fall color is offered not only by its bluish-black berries but also by its colorful foliage which turns purple to reddish-bronze to crimson.

Bittersweet - The Bittersweet vine is a must-have for those serious about providing fall color in their landscape. The green berries of summer, bear a yellow husk in early fall, and as autumn progresses, the husk peels back, revealing an orange berry within. And if that's not enough, the leaves of the vine turn a vivid yellow!

Red Chokeberry - The Red Chokeberry shrub has white flowers in early spring, which become glossy red berries in summer. In autumn the berry color can turn deeper, almost to purple, providing interesting fall color. Although this shrub tolerates poor soil and shade, landscapers seeking maximum fall color from its berries should plant it in a sunny locale.

Viking Black Chokeberry - Viking Black Chokeberry bears white flowers in May with dark green foliage. The foliage turns red first, then to purple in the fall. The berries produced by this shrub grow in clusters and are a blackish-purple. Although not edible for humans, the bitter-tasting berries remain on the shrub well into the winter and serve as an emergency food source for birds.

Cotoneaster - This low growing evergreen shrub rewards the fall gardener with shiny red berries and dark green foliage well into winter. Small fragrant white flowers appear in late spring, followed by bright red berries in autumn that remain well into winter. This Evergreen is very durable and drought tolerant once established.

Japanese Maples - Nothing beats a Japanese Maple for fall color in a compact tree. Japanese Maples lend ancient elegance to any location from small-scale gardens to sweeping landscapes. Their ornamental variety and adaptability to diverse growing conditions has secured them a place of honor in gardens across the world. Japanese Maples provide an ever-changing display of brilliant color, finely textured foliage, and graceful silhouettes.

Plant a variety of shrubs, bushes and vines that will provide beautiful color to your home in the Autumn.

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