• Chrysanthemums produce daisy-like flowers for weeks in the fall.Werner Hilpert/Creatas/Getty Images
  
  Not all flowers and shrubs cease blooming during the fall or winter. Perennials and annuals display sprays of flowers in golds, rusts and whites. Shrubs bear scores of berries under gray skies. Bulbs send up the earliest flowers of the year through the snow. Forethought and planning keep your garden colorful even in the coldest months.
  
  

Perennials

• Asters, goldenrod and some native sunflowers bloom well into the fall. Most varieties grow quite tall and appear their best in mass plantings. Fall-blooming sedum, or stonecrop, blooms in shades of white, pink or red. The fleshy, succulent leaves hold up in dry weather. Autumn Joy grows about 2 feet tall, and other trailing varieties are good for rock gardens. Later in the fall, chrysanthemums, or mums, produce daisy-like flowers for weeks. Most varieties are hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone 4 or 5, but some gardeners in colder regions may have to replant each year. They require regular watering for the best show. Hellebores, sometimes called the Lenten rose, are among the first perennials to bloom each year. The low-growing evergreen produces nodding flowers in white or maroon in December or January.
  
  

Bulbs

• The small, white or purple blooms of crocus and snowdrops are among the first to appear each year, often from under frost or snow. Some bulbs are marked as fall blooming and appear as early as September, but most won't send up shoots until February or March. Plant the bulbs several weeks before the first hard freeze.
  
  

Annuals

• Swap summertime annuals out in the fall to lengthen the growing season. Pansies are a fall and winter annual that come in many colors. These flowers often withstand a light frost. Other cool-season annuals include nasturtiums and snapdragons.
  
  

Shrubs

• Hollies are an obvious wintertime favorite because of the bright red berries and glossy, green leaves. Use branches from these evergreens in holiday decorations. The purple clusters of American beautyberry, the orange berry bunches found on firethorn or the pale gray fruit of Northern bayberry are other choices. For a show of flowers, yellow blossoms line the stems of witchhazel during winter months.