Festive Fall Container Gardens

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
September 18th, 2008
Filed in Container Gardening
Tags: container plants, fall

When the frost is almost on the pumpkin, chance are high that your summer containers are looking droopy and worn-out. Most annual plants have a life span that no amount of deadheading and pruning can overcome. When the petunias are mildewy and half-eaten, and the zinnias have seen better days, it is time for a fall container garden makeover.

Because fall can stretch from a couple of weeks to several months, depending upon your location, it makes sense to incorporate some items into container plantings that you can keep through the winter. Again, this depends heavily upon where you live. In North Carolina we don’t even plant certain plants until October – snapdragons and calendulas. That was definitely news to me when I moved here. Those are summer flowers in Indiana, where I am from.

When designing fall containers, basic principles of container gardening apply. You need a thriller, spiller and a filler. Thrillers are the splashes of color. Fillers are the various evergreens for your container. Spillers are the vines and trailing plants.

Double Duty Fall Container Plants

If you live in an area where the fall is short and the winter is long, you will want to plant fall containers that can transition into winter with just a few additions and subtractions. A foundation of evergreen plants and architectural plants with a splash of color will transition well to winter. Start with these plants as foundation plants:

• Red twig dogwood
• Nandina ‘Firepower’
• Curly willow
• Holly
• Bergenia (pigsqueak)
• Vinca minor
• Chamaecyparis
• Juniper
• Viburnum
• Cotoneaster
• Ornamental grasses and sedges

To add a splash of fall color to the evergreen and architectural plants, consider these annuals, perennials and vegetables:

• Swiss Chard
• Flowering Cabbage
• Flowering Kale
• Chrysanthemum
• Pansy
• Viola
• Primrose
• Beets
• Heuchera

If you are lucky to live in warmer climes, try these annuals along with foundation and architectural plantings:

• Snapdragons
• Calendula
• Verbena
• Million bells
• Cornflower
• Petunias
• Gerber daisies
• Osteospermum

Another fun element for fall containers are corn stalks, pumpkins and gourds, and architectural branches painted gold, red, yellow or orange. (Yes, I just said painted!) For short season containers, you have the luxury of being creative and funky because you won’t have to live with the results for very long.