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Mums are gorgeous all on their own, adding a burst of late-season color to our gardens. But combining them with the right companion plants can make them look even more striking. Then you can play with color and texture to elevate your display with contrast and depth. The following plants are typically available and looking their best in early autumn, making it easier to pair them up and create stunning fall mum displays.
If you haven't checked out ornamental kale and cabbage, you might be surprised at the bold colors in purple, deep green, pink, and creamy white. It's a fall favorite, and still easily found, often on sale, at many independent garden centers.
Ornamental kales and cabbages are quite frost-tolerant, so they'll continue to provide interest even after the frosts have turned your mums brown. They take an entire season to grow, so buy large plants already showing color if you didn't start them from seed in the spring.
Asters are perennials that bloom from late summer until frost, and even longer. Many are very cold-hardy and well-suited for northern growers. Most are some shade of purple, but breeders have released asters in shades of pink, strawberry, and creamy white.
The New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is a great choice, but any asters you find in bloom at the garden center in fall are perfectly suitable to pair with mums. They like full sun and good drainage, and if you plant them near your front steps, patio edge, or in the perennial bed, you'll have a spot every year to plant a pot or two of mums.
