10 Foolproof Plants that are Far Cheaper in Fall – Fill Up Your Yard for Years of Beautiful Blooms

Don't tell everyone, but buying end-of-season bargains and bare root plants now will fill your garden with flowers for years to come while saving a fortune. With fall sneaking up on us, next summer probably isn’t on your radar yet. But now is a surprisingly smart time to shop for perennials to plant in fall and give your garden a head start. There are September plant bargains to be had with garden centers keen to clear the last of their summer stock. Dormant bare root plants also offer an economical way to buy without paying out for a large plant that's costly to transport, and planting bare roots is just as easy as adding a potted plant to your backyard.

The real advantage of fall planting goes way beyond price, however. Warm soil and cooler air create excellent conditions for root growth, helping perennial plants settle in with less heat and transplant stress. And while there'll be no instant show of flowers or lush foliage, what matters is that roots are busy growing in the soil. By spring, that supportive root system means perennials hit the ground running, giving you bigger, stronger plants and, in many cases, lots more flowers.

So, if you want to have a gorgeous garden on a budget, start with these 10 reliable plants with serious flower power. Every garden should have all these hard-working flowering plants that bring plenty of blooms year in, year out, in return for very little effort. All are cheaper to buy right now in both bare root and potted form, and we've hunted out the very best deals on our recommended varieties. So, whether you're starting a new yard from scratch or want to ensure existing borders are packed with blooms, all these plants make great garden investments.

Ready to know what to buy and how to give it the best possible start so that next summer your garden will be blooming lovely? Let's dive in…

1. Peony

• Zones 3-8
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late spring to early summer
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 2-3 feet wide

With their varied shapes and brilliant colors, peonies are a must for any style of yard, and planting them now is better for the plant as well as your wallet. Buy peonies now as bare roots for planting in fall and in most of the US, the soil is still warm enough for roots to grow while the top growth is shutting down. And it's so easy to do. Plant a peony bare root with the eyes – the pink or reddish buds on the root – just 1-2 inches below the soil surface; any deeper and your peonies may refuse to flower. Give them full sun and excellent drainage, and don't crowd them as good air circulation helps keep foliage healthy.

'Coral Charm' Peony, available from Dutch Grown, is a particular favorite as it brings a succession of warm shades over the summer. Or for timeless romance, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ Peony, also available from Dutch Grown, is hard to beat with its huge, beautifully ruffled double blooms in soft rose-pink tones. Be patient as peonies can take a couple of seasons to settle in and flower generously but once established, they can live for 50 years or more!

2. Daylily

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers summer into fall, depending on variety
• Grows to 1-4 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are not only glorious, but they’re also wonderfully forgiving, making them one of the easiest bare root perennials to establish in fall. Planting daylilies now gives the fleshy roots time to settle into their new home while cooler weather reduces the stress of transplanting. Come spring, your daylily will start the growing season with roots that have had months to establish, for a standout show of blooms.

Set the crown – where the roots meet the leaves – about 1 inch below the soil surface, rather than burying it deeply. Water well after planting, then keep the soil reasonably moist until the ground begins to freeze. Give daylilies a sunny spot for the best flowering, although many varieties tolerate light shade.

One of the most popular varieties with garden designers is Daylily 'Black Stockings', available from Dutch Grown, with unrivalled near-black, velvety petals. It’s a reblooming variety, so you'll enjoy more blooms for your bucks. For a softer, more romantic note, Daylily 'Lavender Tutu', also available from Dutch Grown, makes a beautiful contrast to deeper purples, burgundies and pinks of other perennials.

3. Oriental Poppy

• Zones 3-7
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late spring to early summer
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 1-2 feet wide

With their huge blousy blooms, oriental poppies (Papaver orientalis) are a perennial favorite and their chunky, fleshy roots are tailormade for bare root planting in fall, giving plants time to settle in before winter. Plant the roots horizontally, following the supplier's directions, being careful not to bury them too deeply. Choose a sunny position with sharply drained soil as winter-wet ground is a bigger threat than cold. Oriental poppies don’t take kindly to being moved so choose the right spot to start with and they'll put on a spectacular display for years to come.

For drama, few poppies can rival ‘Patty’s Plum’ with its huge, crinkled blooms, and bare root poppy 'Patty's Plum' is available at Dutch Grown. To bring light and contrast to any sunny border, 'Perry's White', also available from Dutch Grown, is a winner with enormous, ruffled white flowers.

4. Sedum

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to late fall
• Grows to 1-2½ feet high and 1½-3 feet wide

There’s a good reason why sedum (Hylotelephium) is such a reliable garden favorite, and that's because it's one of those late-season heroes that keeps on flowering when everything else has given up. It combines beautiful flowers with incredible resilience and requires hardly any looking after. These succulent-leaved perennials thrive in full sun and well-drained soil, shrugging off heat, drought and poor soil once established. So if you have a tricky too-hot area where not much wants to grow, here's your solution.

Sedum flowers are rich in nectar for bees and butterflies, and this plant earns its place in the garden well beyond its flowering season. The sturdy flowerheads look good through fall and you can leave the spent heads standing over winter to provide structure.

Buying potted plants at knock-down prices and planting them now gives sedum roots time to settle before next summer’s heat arrives. Water thoroughly after planting, then allow the soil to dry between waterings rather than keeping plants constantly moist. Autumn Joy sedum, available from Nature Hills is a must-have classic with large, flat heads of dusky pink flowers that deepen towards rich red as autumn progresses. For something a little different, Plum Dazzled sedum, available from Plant Addicts, combines sumptuous plum-purple foliage with rosy-pink flowers and adds rich color to the garden as the season begins to fade.

5. Bearded Iris

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers spring to early summer
• Grows to 1-2½ feet high and 1½-2 feet wide

Bold yet elegant bearded iris flowers bring vibrant color and beautiful structure to a garden, yet are far more low-maintenance and drought-tolerant that their exotic appearance suggests. Bearded iris can be bought as rhizomes – underground storage stems – at this time of the year, which is far cheaper than buying a potted ready-to-flower plant next year.

Fall planting allows the rhizome to make roots before the plant goes fully dormant, giving it a stronger launch into spring. Just be sure to give your bearded iris several weeks of root-building weather before winter arrives. Plant the rhizome at or just barely below the soil surface in a sun-baked spot with free-draining soil. Water thoroughly after planting, but don't keep the soil constantly wet.

The intense purple ruffles of bearded iris Black Knight, available from Dutch Grown, is a sophisticated choice and a worthy talking point, so add these to your front yard if you want to make your neighbors a little jealous. Bearded iris Wine and Roses, also available from Dutch Grown, offers a more romantic vibe with deliciously coloured pink and purple petals.

6. Coneflower

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to fall
• Grows to 2-4 feet high and 1-2 feet wide

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a dependable perennial and will transform from a late-season nursery bargain into next summer's best pollinator magnet. By September, many container-grown coneflowers have finished their biggest floral display so garden centers drop the price – which is great news for savvy shoppers! Your garden birds will be pleased, too, as coneflowers provide plenty of homegrown seed for feathered friends.

Choose a spot with full sun and well-drained soil and water thoroughly when planting, then regularly irrigate while your coneflower is establishing without keeping the soil constantly soggy.

Magnus purple coneflower, available at Nature Hills is an unbeatable classic, offering color and sustenance to bees and butterflies throughout summer. For a sturdier habit and just as much butterfly appeal with masses of rich burgundy-red flowers, Sombrero Baja Burgundy coneflower, available from Burpee is another super choice for any garden.

7. Black-eyed Susans

• Zones 4-9/10 depending on species
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers summer to late fall
• Grows to 2-6 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Black-eyed Susan is a stalwart of sunny summer borders, delivering masses of cheerful flowers with little fuss. Leave some spent flowerheads over winter and you'll also provide seeds for birds, extending the plant's usefulness well beyond its flowering season. Potted Rudbeckia plants are often discounted once their peak summer display has passed; buy them now and you should still get a few weeks of color from these late-season bloomers.

Full sun is ideal, with reasonably fertile, well-drained soil. Water deeply after planting to encourage roots to explore the surrounding soil so, once established, plants are robust and can cope with heat and periods of dry weather.

‘Prairie Glow’ black-eyed Susan, available from Nature Hills, has a fiery twist and glows through the summer and into fall – perfect for bringing warmth to the late-season garden. Or, for a variety that takes up very little border space, choose Rudbeckia Little Goldstar, also available from Nature Hills, which is perfectly compact and equally floriferous. This is also one of best perennials for patio pots if you want maximum flowers for minimum effort.

8. Yarrow

• Zones 3-9
• Full sun
• Flowers summer to fall
• Grows to 1-4 feet high and 1-3 feet wide

Achillea is one of those plants that looks deceptively delicate but is a real garden workhorse. Its flat-topped flower clusters bring butterflies and other pollinators, while the foliage has a pleasingly ferny texture. With its tough constitution and long flowering season, yarrow is a particularly useful perennial for low-maintenance borders. By fall, container-grown yarrow plants have finished flowering, making them prime candidates for end-of-season markdowns.

Especially lovely is Achillea ‘Strawberry Seduction’, available from Nature Hills, which carries domed heads of deliciously rich pink-red flowers, gradually fading to warm straw yellow as summer progresses. For the earthy warmth of a summer sunset, yarrow ‘Desert Eve Terracotta’, available at Lowe's, is a more compact choice to add glowing color to a sunny border. Give yarrow full sun and good drainage and plant it at the same depth it was growing in its pot.

9. Aster

• Zones 3-8, depending on species
• Full sun to partial shade
• Flowers late summer to fall
• Grows to 1-6 feet high and 1-4 feet wide

Native asters (Symphyotrichum) peak just as many perennials are winding down, producing clouds of daisy-like flowers in late summer and fall. That makes them particularly useful to wildlife – and easy to overlook when plant-shopping earlier in the year. Native asters are particularly useful for supporting specialist bees and are important host plants for numerous moth and butterfly caterpillars. Leaving the dried stems standing over winter will provide habitat and seed, as well as a little structure when the rest of the border has gone quiet.

Plant asters now while the soil is workable, preferably in sun and well-drained soil. Don't worry if the plant looks less than impressive once its flowers fade: the root system is busy growing to support bountiful blooms next year.

If you have a small gap to fill, try dwarf variety ‘Purple Dome’, available from Nature Hills – it’s great for being naturally pest-free too. For intensely rich, grape-purple flowers, ‘Grape Crush’, also available from Nature Hills, is the perfect antidote to fading summer color.

10. Hosta

• Zones 3-9
• Partial shade to shade
• Flowers summer
• Grows to ½–2½ feet high and ½-3 feet wide

The magic of hostas is they don't need to be in flower to be fabulous. Their leaves create structure, color and interest from spring onwards, making them wonderful for woodland gardens, shady borders, containers and naturalized planting.

Hostas are one of the easiest shade-loving perennials to establish from bare roots in fall. Plant your bargain roots in partial to full shade and rich, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil. Keep the crown level with the soil surface, water thoroughly and keep the soil consistently moist while roots establish, particularly if fall is dry. Don’t worry if there’s little to see above ground after planting as hostas naturally die back for winter before emerging in spring, when you'll need to protect tasty fresh leaves from slugs and snails with Garden Safe Slug and Snail Granules, available from Amazon.

A mixed hosta collection such as this Walmart deal is a lovely (and highly economical) way to discover just how much variety these plants can offer. Or skip straight to the showstoppers with a standout variety like hosta White Feather, available from Dutch Grown, whose cream leaves light up a shady corner. Hosta Fire & Ice, also available from Dutch Grown, is another surefire hit with stunning variegated foliage.

Top Tips for September Success

• Don't judge a plant by its flowers. End-of-season container plants can look a little scruffy but as long as the crown is firm, the foliage is reasonably healthy and the roots aren't rotten or completely pot-bound. When you're searching through a garden center's bargain corner, skip anything with obvious disease, severe pest damage or a dry, brittle root ball.
• Treat bare-root plants with care. The bare roots should arrive firm and substantial rather than dried out or brittle. Keep roots from drying out and plant as soon as practical, following the supplier's instructions for soaking and planting depth.
• Get the basics right. Always match the perennial to your USDA hardiness zone, sunlight, soil drainage and local growing conditions. The cheapest plant is no bargain if it's planted in the wrong place.
• In colder regions, aim to plant at least four to six weeks before the ground freezes, giving new arrivals time to establish before temperatures plummet.
• Water after planting. Fall rain may do some of the work but newly planted perennials still need a thorough drink and should be watered during prolonged dry spells while they establish.
• Always mulch fall-planted perennials. A 2-3 inch layer of organic mulch such as Back to Roots Organic Mulch, available from The Home Depot, laid over the soil surface helps conserve moisture and buffer temperature swings; keep it a little away from crowns and stems to prevent rot.

If you've been wondering what to plant in fall, now you know. Get busy in September and take advantage of end-of-season bargains and bare root plants and your garden will be packed full of flowers next summer, for years to come, without splashing the cash. There's no better way to save money when starting a new garden, adding another border or filling up an existing bed with extra flower power, than planting great-value perennials in fall.