Planters for Fall

Highlight the beauty of Autumn Flowers

Yellow pansies share the stage with the red fruits and dark green leaves of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). Place a few unique winged gourds within the planter for a festive fall

When the cooler weather and shorter days of fall arrive, your planters may look a bit bedraggled. Sometimes I keep them going until the tender plants succumb to the cold, but often I simply replace the display with fall flowers.

I love the flowers of autumn and delight in the deeper, richer colors that the cool weather brings out. Fall planters filled with eye-popping blooms, grasses, and even succulents celebrate the season in a quietly jubilant way.

Mums, petunias and ornamental peppers work well together to make a notable fall planter display.

Of course, the queen of fall flowers for planters are chrysanthemums. They are unquestionably one of our most popular flowers, and few plants can rival their beautiful colors and durability. They bloom for a long period, make excellent cut flowers, and are easy to grow in containers. Plant them singly in a planter or mix them with other plants— it is your choice.

Golden mums, purple asters, variegated euphorbia and ornamental cabbage make for a luxurious planter in the fall.

White chrysanthemums, Evergold sedge, and purple heliotrope in a stone planter combine to light up a corner.

I personally like fall mums filling a planter by themselves. I particularly like white ones because they glow brightly in the darkness of a fall evening. They seem to light up under a full moon.

These white mums in planters positively glow in the evening.

Another popular flower for fall planters are pansies. Long associated with spring, the cold-tolerant hybrids of this happy-faced perennial bloom in fall and can even overwinter in USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7. And I love the little known yellow flower, Bidens. They have yellow or orange daisy-like blooms that bloom prolifically into the fall. Bidens are perennial plants in warmer climates.

Yellow bidens, ornamental peppers and purple kale are a sweet combo for autumn.

For a classic fall look, add pumpkins atop some straw, add grasses and ornamental cabbage. This is the standard look but it evokes fall so well.

Place a pumpkin beneath an outdoor light so that they are highlighted in the evening.

And don’t forget asters, sedums, and goldenrod. Of course you can just plant ornamental cabbage in mass in a planter:

I hope this inspires you to step into Fall and Enjoy its Fleeting beauty….