As the summer season wanes and your porch pots of petunias and coleus are beginning to look a bit spindly, the ornamental sweet potato vines are scraggly, and those other container plants are going to seed or looking leggy.
So it’s time to let summer go and welcome autumn in all its glory!
Out With The Old
All the fertilizing and deadheading, watering, and pampering isn’t going to change an annual’s pre-engineered lifecycle to grow, bloom, and go to seed before dying in the fall. So by this time of year, it’s time for a refresh and a change of the seasons!
If you are like me, then you already have a shelf of canning jars on a windowsill full of coleus, sweet potato vine, wandering dude, sedum, ornamental purslane, petunias, and other annual cuttings to baby along through the winter to be planted back outdoors in the spring. Yes! Every one of these will root in water and make good houseplants! Once rooted, you can even transfer them into potting soil-filled planters!
Simply debug them with a quick dip or wipe down with insecticidal soap, or a wipe-down with neem oil to keep thrips, white flies, spider mites, and aphids from wreaking havoc.
There are many seeds you can gather now to replant in the early spring! Remember, ornamental sweet potato vines actually make tubers like their edible cousins - so dig them out of your pots and store them as you would Canna and Dahlia for the winter!
Summer perennials and shrubs can be dug up carefully and transplanted into your garden! Just remember to water them regularly until the ground freezes and give them a fresh layer of mulch around their root zone.
Now that you’ve cleaned out the old summer plants and given the soil a refresh with compost, it’s time to plant your new Fall Container Gardens!
Autumn Planter Ideas
If you are a savvy gardener who plans ahead, and if your planters are large enough, then you include fall mums, ornamental grasses, dwarf or sheared evergreens, and columnar ornamentals in your mixed container gardens. These plants transition beautifully into the autumn and can even be decorated into the winter holiday months!
Great Ornamental Grass Container Thriller Options
- Dwarf Fountain Grass
- Elk Blue California Gray Rush
- Variegated Feather Reed Grass
- Hush Puppy™ Fountain Grass
- Red Baron Japanese Blood Grass
- Beyond Blue™ Festuca
- EverColor® Everlite Variegated Sedge Grass
- Elijah Blue Fescue Grass
Even after the foliage has turned its fall tones and winter tans, these waving grasses bring texture and motion to your planters while also retaining showy seed heads that are perfect for autumn decor.
Great Evergreen Thrillers For Year-Round Planter Décor
- Sky Pencil Holly - tall, skinny evergreen can be sheared into topiary
- Cranberry Creek Boxwood - great pyramidal fluffy broadleaf evergreen
- Ice Breaker™ Korean Fir - looks fantastic with gray, white & burgundy flowers/foliage and carries you into the winter holiday season!
- Sunkist Arborvitae - fluffy shearable bright and soft pyramidal evergreen
- Dwarf English Boxwood - dense round compact balls of greenery
- Green Ice® Boxwood - blue-green leaves with silver overcast. Can be trained as Topiary
- Patti O Box® Japanese Holly
- Dwarf Alberta Spruce Pom Pom Topiary and Dwarf Alberta Spruce Spiral Topiary
Any one of these shrubs creates instant drama and lasting year-round color as the specimen thrillers of your larger pots and planters!
Showy Small Shrubs For Fall Container Gardens
Don’t forget that smaller, container-sized Hydrangea may lose their foliage but those fluffy dried flower panicles remain for months!
Many new St. John’s Wort plants have dramatic and colorful seed pods that add interest in the summer and fall months. Try fun colors like First Editions® Pumpkin Hypericum, Golden Rule® St. John's Wort, and many others that are small enough for container culture.
First Editions® Candy™ Coralberry has bubbly pink seed pods that put on a dramatic show in the late summer and fall months! Plus it is a great size for large containers!
Colorful Perennial Mixers
Mums may have the corner market on fall container gardening and it's easy to see why! But here are other perennials to consider mixing into your planters throughout the entire growing season that extend their usefulness and color into the fall and winter months.
- Asters - this is their prime time to bloom! The smaller varieties work great in containers
- Dianthus - these carpets of blue-green foliage are often evergreen in mild winters
- Coral Bells - many can be semi to fully evergreen and have showy fall foliage
- Autumn Fern - great for shade gardens and has bold fall-colored foliage
- Sedum - both carpet and upright
- Hens-n-Chicks (Sempervivum spp.)
- Lamb’s Ears - can often be evergreen in warmer winters
- Prairie Winds® Little Blue Stem
- Black Mondo Grass and Dwarf Mondo Grass - can be evergreen in warm climates
- Sunflare™ Japanese Forest Grass
- Cappuccino Sedge Grass - great autumn coffee-toffee color!
- Bronze Peacock Rodgersia
- Ivy of all types!
Great Annuals For Fall Container Gardening
Now it’s time to mix in some fun fall ornamentals that will carry your container gardens well into the winter months when the snows fly!
- Pansies
- Ornamental Cabbage
- Ornamental Kale
- Dusty Miller
- Swiss Chard like Bright Lights
- Calendula
- Celosia
- Marigolds
These are fantastic plants that are cold-hardy, and many handle the first few frosts!
Other Décor To Add To Your Planters
Pumpkins and gourds are must-have inclusions to your container gardens and front porch décor. New pumpkins are available in all kinds of colors to match your theme! Add one or more pumpkins to your design to fill in any gaps, or use a stack of pumpkins in descending size as a pumpkin tower as the main centerpiece with your plants filling in all around them.
If your planter doesn’t already have a thriller, you can use corn shocks or bundles of wheat, millet, or dried grasses as the main tall central element.
Other additions include curly willow branches, cut white barked bird stems or twigs, and tall stems and spray-painted branches.
If you saved your Allium blossoms and other seed heads after they dried, you can add these along with other dried botanicals, artificial or real fall foliage, as well as your favorite signs, stakes, bows, and small statues!
Some Fall Planter Inspiration To Get You Started!
Here are a few great combinations that will give you a boost of creativity!
Blues, Silvers & GreensIn addition to some silvery blue-green ornamental kale and cabbage, with white and/or blue-green gourds and pumpkins, try a combination of these cool-toned plants that just need some lights and glitter to transition into winter décor!
- Cool as Ice Blue Fescue Grass as icy blue fillers
- Catlin's Giant Ajuga as a bold spiller and low filler
- Peppermint Spice Coral Bells for an iced green filler and spiller
- Dusty Miller or try Helen Von Stein Lamb’s Ear which can be evergreen in warm zones
- White Mums for flowering accents
- Woods Blue Aster
- White or blue Pansies/Violas
Tuck some silvery-painted Curly Willow and dried Hydrangea blooms for some winter bling!
Pumpkins All-Around
Create a tower of orange Pumpkins and gourds in the center with a backdrop of these orange-hued plants and flowers!
- Red Baron Japanese Blood Grass as a vertical accent
- Cappuccino Sedge Grass or Autumn Fern as a uniquely colored filler
- Peach Crisp Coral Bells as a low filler and spiller
- First Editions® Pumpkin St. John's Wort
- Echibeckia™ Summerina™ Orange - even after the flowers fade the spikey seed heads add interest in the fall and winter.
- Orange Mums
- Marigolds
Add some wheat bundles, branches of artificial fall leaves, and sunflowers for a bold accent! Wind some artificial or real Bittersweet vines around everything for a pretty accent!
Lush Jewel TonesThere’s no reason to let the colors of summer go just yet with these vivid jewel tones! Some twisty Curly Willow branches add a tall pop of interest! Try this combination as a long, narrow raised bed around your deck or balcony, large window box planting, or oversized railing planter!
- Bold purple or hot pink Mums as either flowering accents or the main thriller
- Purple-toned ornamental cabbage and/or ornamental kale
- Black Beard Mondo Grass - as an accent and edging
- Black Adder Phormium - as upright accents in warm climates
- Hot Rod Switch Grass - as a tall thriller
- Proven Winners® Black Scallop Ajuga - as a colorful spiller
- Woods Pink Aster - as flowering fillers
- SunSparkler® Lime Zinger Sedum or Berry Smoothie Coral Bells for high-color impact
These bold colors are sure to catch the eye and help you ease into the fall months when you’re not quite ready to put away the flip-flops and backyard barbecues.
Rustic Fall FestivityA large half-whiskey barrel or large wooden planter is the perfect container to hold this informal country mixture of plants. Add tall corn stalks or a column of twigs for some vertical structure.
- Heavy Metal Switch Grass as an airy thriller or filler
- Bright yellow or rusty red Mums as large or small accents
- Hush Puppy™ Fountain Grass
- Calendula and or yellow Marigolds
- Autumn Fire Sedum
- Hens-n-Chicks
Mix in dried flowers, botanicals, and seedheads with gourds and raffia bows for an extra dash of country flair.
Formal Evergreenery
If you have a matched set of large urns on your front porch, this formal evergreen mixture will add curb appeal to your front entry. Symmetrical and concentric, evenly-spaced plants provide a formal effect.
- Cranberry Creek Boxwood - as the central thriller and specimen
- A ring of white Mums around the base of the evergreen
- A Blue Rug Juniper as a spiller on one side
- Hens-n-Chicks or Dwarf Mondo Grass as fillers
- Spikey Yucca or green and white ornamental cabbage if you want some extra texture
- Or go with Frosted Curls New Zealand Sedge Grass for some fine-textured filler
Add some Hubbard squash, and green and/or white pumpkins around the base of your urn, and plant some Mums and Little Missy Boxwood in their own smaller pots to complete the look. Grouping everything symmetrically on either side of your front door or front steps. Once the holidays roll around, simply add some string lights and ornaments!
Fall Planter Care
Fall means inconsistent temperatures and wide temperature swings, so a large container with plenty of organic-rich soil to hold moisture and heat, while giving your root systems plenty of insulation from the cold nights. Remember to research your plants and choose grasses, evergreens and shrubs, and perennials that are rated for your growing zone. Find your USDA hardiness zone here.
Water regularly and do not let your planters dry out, especially when you have perennials and evergreens, even during the winter months if you have no snowfall or rain. Whenever temperatures are above freezing and your soil is dry (try using the Finger Test), go ahead and water.
A 3-4 inch deep layer of mulch will add extra insulation and hold moisture in your soil more consistently.
When temperatures do plummet, you can move dormant planters into a shed or garage with some light access for the worst of the winter months to keep your plants more protected. If you don’t have the room to do so, move your planters into a protected location and wrap their pots in burlap or other insulating material. Smaller planters and pots can be buried in the ground so they can overwinter once temperatures dip below freezing.
First Frost Dates
Plan on planting your fall containers about 6-8 weeks before your region’s first expected frost date to ensure your arrangements have time to establish and thrive before colder temperatures arrive. Reach out to your County Extension Office to find more information about frost dates in your area.
Choose a protected location that gets adequate sun but shields your planters from icy wind. Having rolling trays beneath your pots and planters makes it easy for you to move plants out of the elements during nightly dips; further extending your ability to enjoy them!
Gorgeous Outdoor Autumn Décor
Easy autumn porch and patio decorations are a surefire way to help you celebrate the beginning of fall and ease you into letting summer go! Let Nature Hills help you achieve the prettiest planter combos with our wide variety of trees, shrubs, and perennial plants that are shipped right to your doorstep!
Happy Planting!
