Fall Blooming Perennials in Zone 3

Sneezeweeds

• The dried leaves and flowers of sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), used as snuff, give this late blooming perennial its name. The parent species grows between 3 and 5 feet, featuring yellow rays centered around a pale, yellow disc. Sneezeweeds bloom from August to October. "Bruno" is a cultivar featuring mahogany-red flowers with bronze centers, used in cottage and wild gardens. Bruno grows to 4 feet high, while "Moerheim Beauty" possesses copper red flowers, with nearly black centers. Moerheim Beauty grows between 2 and 3 feet, making it a fit in the front of perennial borders.

Asters

• Asters are reliable fall perennials, blooming late in summer and into mid-fall in many instances. New England aster (Aster nova-angliae) comes in a fall-blooming form called "Alma Potschke'" which grows to 36 inches tall in full sunlight. Alma Potschke generates clusters of pink-red flowers on top of stems with abundant leaves. In zone 3, the skyblue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense) grows to 3 feet, blooms in September and October and attracts the remaining butterflies in the region. Skyblue asters feature a yellow center decorated by many light blue to violet rays.

Black-eyed Susans

• In natural settings, black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida) form colonies through the expansion of their root systems, from which new growth develops. Blooming from June into October in USDA zone 3, the perennial grows to 3 feet. The discs in the flower's center are not black, but shades of purple-brown, with yellow-orange rays spread about them. Cultivars include "Early Bird Gold," a type with large brown middles and yellow rays, growing to 24 inches tall. Rudbeckia hirta "Prairie Sun" is a hairy-stemmed form of black-eyed Susan that blooms from June until frost. Its centers are greenish and its rays yellow.

Stonecrops

• Sedum "Autumn Fire" is a form of stonecrop that grows in clumps so large, you can employ them in your landscape much the same way you would use a shrub. Blooming into the middle of fall, Autumn Fire generates thick foliage and rose-pink flowers. It grows to 30 inches tall and spreads out as much as 24 inches. "Garnet Brocade" grows to just 18 inches, but it possesses attractive burgundy foliage. Garnet Brocade blooms into October, producing deep red flowers. Plant this stonecrop in masses, with rock gardens an appropriate venue for them.