Fabulous Fall: How To Refresh Your Outdoor Container Gardens
Saying good-bye to summer doesn't mean that your outdoor containers are finished for the year. Now is the time to refresh your pots and replace leggy and faded annuals with fall blooming plants and other autumnal accents.
CONSIDER A COLOR SCHEME
Marigold - pumpkin - rust - chocolate
Create a fall-inspired outdoor arrangement that captures the season in all its glory. Golden mums, bright ornamental peppers, cheerful garnet pansies bring bursts of color, while rusty-hued grasses and caramel-colored coral bells add depth and richness. Tuck some creeping jenny around the edges and you have a welcoming display that celebrates the harvest season. This color combination would look lovely in an aged terracotta planter.
Moss - olive - purple - mauve
Not your stereotypical autumnal shades but a great way to create a rich and vibrant planting that perfectly suits the season. Combine jewel-toned mums and mauve sedums with purple fountain grass. Add some lavender tinged cabbages and chocolate coral bells. Creeping jenny or ajuga will soften the edges. This mix of blooms and foliage feels abundant and looks classy and elevated in a weathered stone or concrete pot.
Ivory - sage green - silver grey
A stately stone urn is the perfect container for a serene and sophisticated fall display. Creamy white blooming plants such as mums, pansies and heather combine beautifully with dusty miller, lambs ear, blue fescue grass and ornamental cabbages. Tuck in some ivy and together these plants create a calm, understated composition that feels fresh and timeless.
PICK YOUR PLANTS
Chrysanthemum
These plants are a staple of fall gardens and come in the most brilliant colors and many sizes. The blooms last for 4 - 6 weeks. We like to use them in container gardens, but also in a decorative planter by themselves. This makes it easy to replace the plant with a fresh one.
Cabbage and Kale
Both are major players in fall plantings. Cabbage has round leaves and a rosette shape, kale foliage is more upright and adds height. Cactus & Tropicals stocks many attractive varieties.
Calluna (heather)
A woodsy blooming plant in shades of pink, mauve and creamy white. Not as commonly used, but very attractive in monochromatic plant combinations.
Other seasonal accents
Adding branches, such as dogwood, curly willow or even pyracantha (firethorn), - the bright orange berries that are in full display everywhere in Utah - gives your outdoor planting more dimension by adding height.
THE FALL DISPLAY
Placed by your front door, on a porch or around the patio these seasonally planted containers will offer lasting beauty even as we are headed into cooler weather. If you want to elevate the look add some large lanterns and place some choice heirloom pumpkins or interesting gourds among the pots and you have created some fall magic.
Not enough time? We are here to help. Cactus & Tropicals specializes in designing, installing and maintaining custom container gardens. Contact us today to schedule your seasonal planting.
Container design: Maddie Anderton
Photography: Darla Garcia
Contributing writer: Karin Pynes