It’s almost that time of year again—autumn!
You can see the change in the schedules of your employees and tenants at the Atlanta commercial properties you manage.
Summer vacations have ceased. Children are returning to school. Everyone is juggling drop-off and pickup routines, as well as managing homework and earlier bedtimes.
You can also feel it in the air. Atlanta’s hot, hot, hot temperatures are softening a bit during the mornings and evenings. And just after your landscape seemed like it was near melting in all of that summer heat, things slowly begin to change.
Your full-sun performers are giving everything they can while the bright green leaves of summer are transformed into a tapestry of ruby reds, outstanding oranges, glittering golds, and beautiful bronzes.
Just in time to accompany this new palette is another transition—one of more color. With the change of seasons comes a fresh batch of hues to dress up your Atlanta commercial landscape, so it matches the season. And when it comes to fall color that packs a real punch, there are only two flowers you need: pansies and violas.
But don’t think these two flowers can’t creatively carry even the largest commercial properties into fall. Pansies and violas come in such a wide variety of shades that almost anything you can imagine is possible.
Pansies
Few plants create color in an Atlanta fall landscape than pansies, popular and recognizable cooler weather flowers that last late into fall and early winter—not bothered by the continually lowering temperatures.
Growers produce 50 million pansies each year for the Georgia market. Many pansies are bicolored, making them striking, despite their smaller size. These delicate-looking, yet surprisingly hardy flowers, which are larger than viola flowers at more than 2 inches, grow to 6 inches high in clump formation. Pansies bloom best in full sun to partial shade. They also prefer well-drained soil.
Once established, pansies require minimal care. As lower growers, pansies are ideal for edges and containers or places where you want to pack some great color punch, like an entryway or focal point.
Because pansies come in a complete kaleidoscope of hues ranging from soft whites to golden yellows to bold oranges to radiant reds to baby blues and pretty purples, we can plant them in tight formations and get extremely creative with contrasting colors—whether it’s mimicking a company logo in a landscape bed or using an alternating color pattern to provide that extra wow factor.
Violas
Also called Johnny Jump Ups, Violas certainly compete with pansies for long-lasting and intense attention during the fall months.
While pansies offer a few groupings of larger flowers, violas offer multiple groupings of smaller, 1-inch to 2-inch flowers that grow 10 inches high in clump formation.
And the color palette is just as varied—from vivid violets to punchy purples to magnificent magentas to striking whites and gorgeous golds. Think there is a color violas don’t come in? Think again. They even come in black, bright orange, and pale blue. Violas have two main color patterns—blotched (with a “face”) and clear (without a “face”). The flowers may be single, semi-double, or double in form.
While both pansies and violas enjoy sunny locations and well-drained soil, violas are more shade-tolerant, as well as a bit more disease-resistant. They also tend to fill in a bit faster.
Like pansies, violas’ wide variety of colors makes them great assets to containers and bed borders. And for those special areas that need extra attention, violas used in complementary or contrasting color combinations can dress up even the dullest areas.
Add Some Pow And Punch To Your Atlanta Commercial Landscape This Autumn With Violas And Pansies
As the curtain falls on the summer show of garden blooms, gear up for your fall preview with some pansies and violas. These hardy, colorful fall flowers for Atlanta commercial landscapes can weather Georgia falls and winters, keeping colorful until spring arrives … and there are no two flowers known more for their charm, variety, and versatility.
HighGrove Partners’ landscape color experts start planting fall color in October. In fact, we planted 212,611 square feet of seasonal color in 2014, so we have a wealth of experience in rich and rewarding colors. We’d love to meet with you to discuss your fall flower needs.
We’re happy to create a creative, custom display that is sure to please your commercial property’s tenants, employees, and visitors. So give us a call at 678-298-0550 or use our simple contact form to set up a meeting with our team.
It’s never too late to get excited about color in your commercial landscape. Let HighGrove commercial landscape design team help you develop a color plan that has a major impact on your property, getting your tenants, customers, and visitors talking. For quick reference, check out our infographic on the bold seasonal color below!