Fall fireworks: Plants that light up your landscape

Wrapped in blazing gold and fiery red with flickers of violet-blue, Jan Langer’s autumn landscape captures all the colors of a flame—and it’s just as mesmerizing. When she bought her Chicago-area home in 2004, she appreciated its large lot, which flows into a tangled wood. But the yard itself sparked little excitement. A brick patio spanned the back of the house, but the landscape beyond was drab.

Now, Jan loves to linger outside thanks to a dramatically different yard by landscape designers Shelda Murray and Stephanie “Zoe” Hazard of Plant Tenders Inc. The variety of plants makes it inviting year-round, but come fall, it just glows. 

The shimmering gold of witch hazel highlights the sweetest surprise: a new flagstone patio warmed by a fire bowl (pictured). Tucked in a remote corner within the curvy mixed border stretching the yard’s perimeter, “it’s a little getaway,” Shelda says. 

Click ahead to read more about Jan's garden and its fall foliage.