Inspiration for Pretty Fall Pots

Fall is a great time to get out and work in your yard and garden. Nights are
cooler, so don’t be surprised if your perennials and your annuals send out
new blooms and look even better than they did a month ago. And the
holidays are coming! Our homes, including our front porches, glow with the
warmth of festive décor. Don’t give up on your planters and pots; they can
be part of the fun too.

Inspiration for fun fall pots can come from many places, but here are four
ideas to help get you thinking.

THE HARVEST POT

Fall is the time of the harvest. Tomatoes, peppers, corn, grain, cabbage,
apples…just think of all the delicious colors and shapes. Create a planter
that invokes the feeling of a harvest basket overflowing with the bounty of
the earth. Select ornamental versions of the plants we eat, and look for other
shapes and colors that add to the rich textures and feelings of harvest time.
Fall pots often include perennials, as well as annuals. Consider using an
actual basket to complete the look.

Flowering kale and cabbage
Ornamental grass, such as Oat Grass
Ornamental peppers
Common Sage
Upright Sedum
Hardy Mums
Coral Bells
Petunia (deep purple or deep pink)
Pansies

HAUNTED MANSION

Think about the quintessential haunted mansion. High Victorian architecture
and details crumbling with age, covered with dust and moss. The colors will
be cool and subdued. Texture and shape will be important. You want it to
be a little spooky and mysterious. The pot will be more important in this
look. Start with a strong urn shape, perhaps distressed or moss covered.
Add architectural elements such as topiary frames or finials. Now add some
plants. This look will be more formal, balanced, symmetrical, stately like an
old mansion….just a creepy haunted one.

Flowering kale/cabbage
Purple dracaena or fountain grass
Dusty miller
Creeping Jenny
Bugleweed
Petunia
Licorice

HALLOWEEN WHIMSEY

Now for some fun…let’s make a pot that embraces all that is fun and
youthful about Halloween. The color scheme is pretty standard; purple,
orange, chartreuse, yellow, and black. If you can find a container that looks
like a jack-o-lantern or witch hat…all the better. Perhaps even leave room in
your arrangement for some pumpkins and yard ornaments. Try these plants
for a whimsical Halloween look:

Purple dracaena or fountain grass
Orange and yellow mums
Chartreuse sweet potato vine or Creeping Jenny
Purple petunias
And if you can find them…true black pansies and petunias

ENCHANTING EVERGREENS

When planting a pot for fall, it makes sense to consider longevity. “How long
is this going to last?” That’s why so many fall planters include perennials. If
you take this idea to its logical conclusion, you realize that evergreens are a
great choice for fall pots. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and
colors. They are slow growers, so they can stay in the pot for 2 or 3 years
before needing to be repotted or planted in the yard. And they will look
good all year round, including in the middle of snowy January and February.
Consider adding evergreens in with your annuals and perennials, or let them
be the star in an arrangement just for them.

Blue Spruce
Buffalo Juniper
Cotoneaster
Oat Grass
Bugleweed
Lamium

Estrada Farms is a retail nursery and garden shop catering to the home
gardener and do-it-yourself home landscaper. In addition, we offer special
pricing for landscapers and other commercial projects.