5 Steps: Create Your Welcoming Fall Containers

Celebrate Fall: Swap Out Your Summer Annuals

My landscape design plans include containers planted as seasonal arrangements. It’s a way to include a pop of color. I often use them to draw the eye to the front door. And it’s easy and fun to do.

My daughter asked me to help her design her fall containers. This is the result.

1. Choice Your Color Palette

My daughter’s house is a dark blue. Dark green shrubs are behind the containers on one side and grey steps behind the other. For maximum contrast, visibility, and a cheery welcome we choice the complementary color of orange. Note: it’s opposite to blue on the color wheel. We picked the ‘pastel’, coral, and its adjacent color yellow. We also knew we could use white or a touch blue on the edges.

Also, it’s helpful to measure your containers and know if they are in sun or shade.

2. Guided by Your Palette: Pick Plants You Love

The bright yellow and green grass ‘Golden Variegated Sweet Flag’ (Ogon) caught our eye first. Then we spied the coral petunias, ‘Supertunia Persimmon’. Looking for a third plant, we meandered until we were drawn to the yellow mums, probably ‘Moonglow’.

3. Arrange Them on the Shopping Cart so You Know They Work

Using the cart we assembled the plants we liked together. It’s important to do it the same way we would plant them. Notice a triad of 3 grasses and 3 petunias. We tried an ornamental kale and a yellow mum. The kale was okay, but the mum was vibrant and make the combination a winner.

First the triad of the variegated ‘Orgon’ Grass in place around the edges.

Second, a triad of the ‘Persimmon” Petunias. Instead of a coral, we used the red-orange variation of orange.

Third, we tried a lovely blue-green Ornamental Kale. It was nice but not fantastic.

The bright yellow early blooming mum ‘Moonshine’ added the pizazz we wanted.

Plant and Enjoy

My daughter planted the containers and added a cute scarecrow she’d seen on our way to checkout. (Probably spotted by my 5 year old granddaughter.)

The grass, petunia, and the mum are cool season plants so they will last a long time. When the early blooming mum ‘goes by’ and looks tatty, then it can be replaced with mid or late season mum or a medium size pumpkin to celebrate Thanksgiving. The petunias can be replaced with container size small purple kale. The grass could become part of the Winter Arrangement.

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Email me: MvonBrinckenLGD@gmail.com