Setting up a garden harvest of colors

Autumn offers an abundance of opportunities to refresh your garden

with annual color. Plants that show off flowers and leaves in shades

of gold, red, orange, brown and plum celebrate the season and give

your summer-weary garden an extra dash of excitement.

Bulbs, grasses and annual flowers come in a huge assortment of

colors and sizes. There are a lot of great choices for planting and

for picking. Incorporating a few, or a lot, of these harvest-tone

coquettes will give you an October and November garden to remember.

Perennials can stand the test of time and become part of your garden

army.

Ornamental millet is a burgundy grass that has long pointed leaves

and interesting spires of small flowers that turn to seeds. Smaller

grasses such as “red bunny tails” have delicate cattails and slender

leaves. Purple fountain grass has plum-colored blades and blond

cattails.

Established grasses can provide a touch of fall in every room in

the house. After cutting, these bulletproof beauties don’t even need

water to look their best.

If you are planting annual flats of seasonal color, take a look at

the “orange duet” violas and the “jolly joker” pansies. Their orange

and purple color scheme will add a cheerful note to any garden.

Brown and bronze are exciting colors to amplify your garden

volume. Chocolate cosmos have deep brown flowers that look like

velvet. And believe it or not, the fragrance is remarkably like its

namesake.

“Rustic colors” rudbeckia have a red-brown hue and will flower for

two months if you deadhead the blooms-on-the-wane. Sweet potato vine

“blackie” is an unusual groundcover that provides plenty of contrast

in the garden.

Adding “palace purple” coral bells or “dragonwing” begonias to a

shady spot will supply some unexpected texture. These selections look

striking when paired with chartreuse foliage such as Meyers

asparagus.

The soon-to-be-released rose named “hot cocoa” is a floribunda

rose with a beautiful brown character. Floribunda roses have stems

laden with flowers.

If you have planting space in the sun or an empty corner in your

rose garden, you need to incorporate this rose into your collection.

Don’t let the garden hoard all of the elegance. Employ these

special flowers and grasses inside as well. Using a few flowers and

bundles of ornamental grass from your garden can perk up a

store-bought bouquet.

Invest in a few, or many, pumpkins and you can decorate your

kitchen, dining room, entry, porch and garden until December.

Good-bye chrysanthemums, hello “coffee twist,” “chocolate chip,”

“baby bingo” and “brown-eyed Susan.” There are a few new kids on the

block and these fall babies are so cool, they’re hot.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs

Sundays.