When other parts of the garden start to wane as the temperatures drop, planting trees that burst into bloom at this time of year brings color and interest to any fall landscape. Adding fall-flowering trees also provides nectar for local wildlife during the leaner months.

October provides an opportunity to plant trees that you can enjoy for years to come. You can revel in vivid blooms from early fall onwards, even long into winter in some cases. Many of the fall-flowering trees to plant in October also offer beautiful fragrance and unique bark for extra seasonal interest.

Fall is a good time to plant trees, as the soil is still warm and abundant natural rainfall helps roots to establish before winter. One thing to remember is not to add lots of compost or fertilizer directly into the planting hole. This practice is now discouraged as it doesn’t encourage the roots to extend outwards, which is needed to securely anchor the tree. It is better to top-dress with compost or mulch after planting – you can do this with a bag of organic compost, like this one on Amazon.

, or the winter-flowering cherry tree, is different to other cherries – it flowers in the fall rather than the spring.

The double, pale pink flowers appear from October to March, depending on the variety and the climate, to brighten up the colder months. As the flowers open during that period, you can enjoy pops of color in an otherwise bare garden. The flowers are followed by small fruits, and the foliage turns fiery shades of red and orange in the fall for extra seasonal interest.

A fall-flowering cherry is cold-hardy and can grow outdoors in US hardiness zones 4-8 without issues. Plant it in full sun or partial shade (anywhere with at least 4-6 hours of daily sunlight is sufficient) and in well-draining soil.

This fall cherry tree at Trees.com grows to 20 feet and provides year-round interest, with pink blooms in fall and attractive foliage and bark.

Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) trees are native to Asia but have become a mainstay in gardens across the southern United States. What has made them so popular in landscaping is their low maintenance, versatility, and beauty.

Crepe myrtles are a triple whammy, with vibrant blooms in a range of colors from white to purple, bright fall foliage, and unique peeling bark. The flowers show from summer into fall, often performing right up to the first frost. This means you can have many months of dazzling flowers when you grow a crepe myrtle.

Crepe myrtle can grow in many different soil types, provided it drains well. They can suffer root rot from sitting in waterlogged soil for long periods. Their adaptability extends to growing in full sun or partial shade in US hardiness zones 6-10. There are many different sizes to choose from, plus compact varieties to grow trees in pots in smaller spaces.

You can get a Colorama Scarlet crepe myrtle at Trees.com that grows to 15-20 feet and produces scarlet blooms set against deep green foliage.

Osmanthus fragrans, known as fragrant olive or tea olive, is a shrub or small tree with very fragrant flowers that appear en masse in the fall. It is a fabulous fragrant evergreen native to East Asia that comes in white- and orange-flowered varieties.

A fragrant olive makes a perfect shrub for around a deck, patio, walkway, seating, or dining area, where its glossy foliage and aromatic perfume can be enjoyed up close. It looks stunning as a specimen tree, but can even be trained as a fragrant espalier tree or grown in large containers to frame an entryway or provide evergreen structure in the yard.

The plant can grow in full sun or partial shade, though it prefers some afternoon shade in the hottest, southern climates.

You can get a live orange-flowering tea olive at Plant Addicts to add to your garden in the fall. Orange-flowering tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans f. aurantiacus) can be grown as a small tree that will reach 8-12 feet and be covered in small tangerine blooms in fall, emitting a glorious apricot fragrance.

The Temple of Bloom Seven-Son Flower (Heptacodium miconioides) becomes the star of the show when other shrubs and trees are starting to decline towards the back end of the season.

Come late summer, it puts on a scintillating performance with large, fragrant white flowers that are rich in nectar and attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. These flowers remain well into fall, before dropping and revealing an encore of bright red bracts, giving the impression of a second bloom.

Then, once the leaves drop, a Temple of Bloom Seven-Son Flower has one more trick up its sleeve – peeling bark for extra winter interest. If you want a unique tree that puts on a fantastic show in the fall, definitely consider growing a Temple of Bloom Seven-Son Flower.

A Temple of Bloom Seven-Son Flower can grow in US zones 5-9 and will reach 6-10 ft tall. It prefers full sun but tolerates part shade and works well as a specimen tree or as part of a border. The tree attracts hummingbirds, so plant it somewhere they can easily find it and you can enjoy watching them visit.

You can get a live Temple of Bloom Seven-Son Flower tree at Nature Hills.

Camellia sasanqua originates from southern Japan, and modern cultivars come from crossing the original wild species with other types of camellias, including Camellia japonica. They can be grown as shrubs or small flowering trees and bring color and fragrance to a garden when little else is blooming.

Camellia sasanqua flowers from early fall to midwinter, and the blooms can remain for 4-6 weeks, bringing a dash of color during the colder months. The single or semi-double flowers have a sweet fragrance and are supported by a stellar cast of evergreen, glossy, dark green foliage.

Sasanqua cultivars work as a focal point in a winter garden, as a screening plant, or dwarf cultivars can be grown in containers filled with an acidic potting mix. The plants are hardy in zones 7-9 and need full sun or partial shade, but too much shade makes them leggy. Camellias prefer slightly acidic soil. Mulching around plants with pine bark can help to lower the soil pH.

You can get a live Camellia sasanqua 'Shishi Gashira' at Trees.com that will dazzle with large double pink blooms in fall and early winter.

What to Shop

You know all about fall-flowering trees to plant in October, but there may indeed be more that you want to add to your garden this month. If this is the case, we’re here to help you get inspired. Our guide to what to plant in October contains shrubs, flowers, bulbs, and vegetables to plant throughout the month. There are sure to be lots of plants to add to your fall gardening checklist for the coming weeks.

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