Asters are regarded as the September birth flower and provide a much-needed splash of color in the garden when summer begins to fade and fall makes its annual appearance. The distinct blooms of Asters have been used to remember soldiers lost at war, and served as muses for painters and writers.

Delivering rich pink color that’s hard to find anywhere else, Pink Muhly Grass is unlike your typical landscape groundcover. In fact, its unique color lasts for months, lending a fresh new look for sidewalk borders, driveways, patios and beyond.

It’s no wonder why this ornamental grass is preferred by professional landscapers. You often see Pink Muhly Grass in high-end neighborhoods for its desirable color and carefree upkeep. Especially since its vivid show lasts from late summer to fall, transitioning to the cooler months with reddish-pink blooms for a sea of unmatched vibrancy.

Noted for its beautiful burgundy summer and fall foliage, Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’ is a lovely, deciduous dwarf shrub with eye-catching, small, obovate, deep crimson leaves with a bronze tinge, which turn into brilliant red shades in the fall. Tiny, waxy, scented, pale yellow flowers appear in mid-late spring, but are insignificant in comparison to the foliage.

They are followed by an abundant crop of bright red berries in the fall, which are attractive to birds and often remain on the spiny stems after the leaves have fallen, therefore extending the season of interest of this ornamental shrub through the winter. Crimson Pygmy Japanese barberry is a hardy plant that requires little care to thrive.

Prized for its beautiful shape and attractive foliage, award-winning Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsura Tree) is an elegant, single or multi-trunked, deciduous tree with an upright, pyramidal form when young, becoming more rounded with age. The dense foliage of broadly heart-shaped leaves, up to 4 in. long (10 cm), emerges a beautiful reddish purple in spring, matures to blue-green in summer and warms up to attractive shades of gold, orange and red in fall.

As an added bonus, the foliage smells like cinnamon or burnt sugar on warm fall days, when the leaves are falling, and when new growth appears in spring. Tiny flowers appear in spring, before the foliage unfurls, but they are not particularly showy. Katsura Tree remains attractive even after the leaves drop, thanks to its graceful, pyramidal silhouette and its brown, slightly shaggy bark. A great landscape tree for shade that is lovely through the seasons.