It may be unusual for a gardener, but since we’re among friends, I’ll admit it: Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the chill in the air, the vibrant trees, the wood smoke curling out of chimneys. No sooner does the calendar turn to September 1st than I start planning and plotting for hay bales and mums, pumpkins and overwrought (and overpriced) lattes. For me, these signs start the transition to fall.
But what to do when the weather doesn’t cooperate? Another month with temps in the eighties (and sometimes nineties!) doesn’t much inspire one to set out the scarecrows and ornamental kale. And it seems a shame to toss my pots full of coleusand creeping Jennywhen they’re still putting on such a great show.
My solution? In recent years I’ve begun to slowly transition my plantings. Now, instead of tearing everything out and overhauling all of my containers at once, starting in early September I begin to pull out only the annuals that are past their prime, and leave everything else in place. This is also a good strategy for those who prefer to bid summer a long, slow, farewell. That means, out go the leggy angeloniasand impatienswith faded leaves and blossoms, in go the cool season annuals that will stay in place through the rest of the fall season.
Keep reading for tips on seamlessly starting the transition to fall with containers
One of the keys to successful container planting is making sure the end results look lush and full, without being too crowded. It can be tricky to gauge this in spring when your plants are still small and you have to imagine how everything will come together once the empty spaces fill in.
Designing your pots at the end of the summer is much simpler! Whichever plants you decide to keep in your containers for the next month or so, (marigolds, waxed begonias, alyssum, as well as trailing vines- ivy, creeping jenny, vinca vine, etc.), have already grown up. It becomes easy to see how much space you have to work with after you remove the spent annuals. When you create your containers next spring, keep this moment in mind, and choose plants that will be a nice complement to your warm weather flowers, but will also serve as good transitional plants for early fall.
Coleus is a good plant to start with
When it comes to plants that bridge the gap between summer and fall, a favorite of mine is coleus. While technically too sensitive to withstand the really cold days ahead, in shades of deep red, purple, green, orange, and brown, plants look tailor made for early autumn, and provide a lovely backdrop for mums,pansies, and ornamental kale. I pot up coleus seedlings in spring, in containers with petunias, impatiens, or caladiums– whatever you like!
Come fall, when I replace the warm weather plants with cold hardy selections, the detailed leaves of coleus look just as handsome alongside them. They thrive in the shadier spots in my yard, but also do well in part sun. Plants should be pinched back throughout the season to maintain the best form, and prevent the formation of flowers. (Once the plants flower, appearance of the leaves can suffer, as much of their energy goes into producing seeds.) Making sure to grow coleus in pots and soil with good drainage will help guarantee your plants are still healthy and thriving at the end of the season.
Why not sdd some grass (Sedge) to your fall pots?
Grasses are another group of plants that can be successfully transitioned from summer containers into fall, and Carex, (or Sedge), is one genus that particularly thrives in pots. Sedges are easy to grow, durable, and require little in the way of maintenance. And with around 1,000 species, and many cultivars to choose from, there really is something for everybody. Leaves can be cascading or upright, tall or short, green, or variegated- even bronze colored! Plants do well in shade or sun, and thrive with regular watering and feeding during the growing season. With proper care, these should keep containers looking good through the fall.
Ferns are perfect for fall containers
Another perfect choice to shine in summer as well as fall containers is the Brilliance Autumn Fern, or Dryopteris erythrosora‘Brilliance.’ A beautiful, and somewhat unexpected choice for planting in pots, this fern starts out a delicate coppery-red and matures to a deep green by the end of summer. In autumn, the lacy fronds often turn red again. It’s easy to grow, thrives in heavy shade or dappled sun, and appreciates a drier soil.
Geraniums are cool for fall temperatures
A plant you might be surprised to find on this transitional list is one many of us have come to acknowledge as a quintessential part of summer – the geranium! In fact, you can keep your potted geraniums right into the chillier weather, and chances are they will get a burst of energy when the temperatures cool off and start to perform even better than they did during the sweltering days of July and August. And varieties with red blooms look just as attractive against the orange and bronze shades of fall as they did with the greens of summer. For best results, geraniums should be planted in full sun with well-drained soil. They will reward you with pretty flowers right up to the first frost.
Don’t forget the marigolds
I love planting marigolds in the spring alongside my veggie patch, and seeing their cheery flowers over the course of the summer months. But I think they really make a splash in the fall, when their quintessential reds, golds, and brassy oranges perfectly capture the spirit of the season. Marigolds like full sun, and fertile, well-drained soil. Pinching off the tops of the plants during the summer will encourage them to grow into a bushier shape and promote more blooming. Similarly, deadheading plants will spur them to produce more flowers as well and help get the most life out of your plants.
Moving to cold tolerant plants can extend the season
Whatever combinations you choose for your containers, switching out some of your summer plantings with more cold tolerant options is a great way to extend the growing season and keep pots looking pretty into the fall. As the weather cools off, notice which plants continue to thrive and keep them around, but don’t be afraid to edit out some of the struggling annuals. There are plenty of great options you can turn to for filling in the gaps, and your containers will transition beautifully from the dog days of summer right through until the frost. And after that? Well, that’s what evergreens are for …
Out with the old…
Fall can be a second spring if you refresh and renew and your summer container gardens. Here are some classic autumn bloomers that you can use to replace summer weary annuals and bedding plants. Once your petunias are looking leggy, your marigolds seedy, and your coleus are nipped by cooler nights; these plants will keep pots looking perky:
Winter Pansies
Look for pansy plants with smaller blooms, if you want pansies that are most weather resistant. In mild winter climates you can plant pansies in the fall and enjoy the flowers all winter and into the summer months as well. In cold winter climates place your pots containing pansies close to the house where they will protected from freezing temperatures for as long as possible. You can also combine pansy plants with pumpkins to display in autumn containers. The variety “Jolly Joker” is a pansy with bright orange and purple petals that looks great in a container that uses mini orange pumpkins as an accent.
Tip: Keep removing the faded flowers from your pansy plants to insure continuous blooms.
Anemone, Japanese Windflowers
A fall blooming perennial with spreading roots, this winter hardy plant will fill a container with months of fall and autumn blooms, and keeping the roots contained in a pot will prevent this ambitious plant from spreading into other beds. The daisy like blooms are held high on tall stems so you can use this plant in the center or in the back of a container and add lower growing fall color such as heucheras or pansies at the base. Anemones do well in the shade so they are a good choice for containers that may be under a porch or roof overhang that get little sunshine. The classic white Japanese Windflower called ‘Honorine Jobert’ may grow to four feet tall so unless you have a very large container, use the more compact varieties such as the pink blooming ‘Pretty lady Diana’ that blooms on stems under two feet tall.
Tip: After growing for a few years in a container move your Japanese Windflower plant into the garden or the hefty root system may break apart your pot. This tough perennial is perfect for growing under trees in dry shade where the poor soil will help to keep the rampant growth in check.
Heuchera, Coral Bells
It’s all about the leaf with this compact, mounding perennial and filling fall container gardens with the bright foliage of heucheras plants will provide color all autumn and through the winter months. Related to native coral flower plants, some heucheras varieties can handle winter temperatures as low as negative 40 degrees. The variegated creamy white and green leaves of Heuchera ‘Snow Angel’ adds a touch of pink to the foliage in cooler weather and the deep ruby leaves of Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ look almost black to provide a beautiful contrast to silver or golden foliage plants such as the lamiums that might also share a container for fall and winter color.
Tip: There is an explosion of new heucheras varieties in a rainbow of colors now available. To make the most of your container design place a solid color heuchera, such as the lime green ‘Lime Marmalade,’ next to the busy foliage of the purple and green ‘Marvelous Marble’. Pairing up solid colors with richly veined or variegated leaves is a design tip that keeps the foliage colors from fighting for attention.
Lamium
Low growing and semi evergreen, perennial lamiums are often used as woodland groundcovers but this sparkling silver foliage plant will light up your autumn containers especially if your pots are kept in an area that receives little sunshine. The leaves of lamium ‘Ghost’ are almost white, and they contrast well with the deep purple blooms that will pop up on the plant in the spring. Lamiums are perfect for using around the edge or in the front of a fall container design as the foliage will spill over the sides in a restrained manner that gives a bountiful look to any pot of plant material.
Tip: You can shear back potted lamiums in the spring and enjoy them in mixed container gardens during the summer months. After a full year, transplant your potted lamiums to the landscape where they can be used as a groundcover that will block out weeds in shaded areas. Lamium may overtake a bed if given lots of moisture and great soil. They behave best in dry shade.
Fall Magic for Container Gardens
Take advantage of the autumn bounty in your landscape to perk up your summer weary containers. Here are some ideas for magical makeovers that don’t involve buying new plants for your fall containers:
Add cut stems of hydrangeas to your pots.
The blooms on big leaf hydrangea shrubs, such as the ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas, usually have a leathery or dry feel to them by September and this means they can be harvested from the shrub and the cut end poked into the moist soil of a container garden. Keep these cut flowers out of the full sun and they will last for a month or more and fill your containers with bodacious blooms. Dry hydrangeas can also be used to fill up hanging baskets. Pee Gee hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) also dry on the bush in early autumn, but this variety needs a bit of water to last as a cut flower poked into container garden. You can use water tubes (available from a florist or craft store) or sink a plastic cup filled with water into the potting soil of a container garden. Insert the cut stems of your pee gee hydrangeas into water immediately after you cut them from your shrubs. Providing just a few inches of water for cut hydrangeas will help them to dry gradually and keep their blooms in an upright manner.
Tip: Don’t prune back an entire hydrangea shrub in the fall as this could stimulate new growth before winter. Instead clip off some of the blooms with a stem 8 to 10 inches long for poking into moist potting soil or a few inches of water. Don’t have a container garden to fill with hydrangeas? Fill a basket, metal bucket, or metal watering can with dried hydrangeas instead.
Showcase a bountiful harvest in your pots.
Nothing says autumn like pumpkins, gourds, and squash, so display the autumn harvest while you fill in the bare spots of container gardens. You can add a single mini pumpkin in place of a spent petunia plant or display a mini mountain of gourds and pumpkins in a larger container. Attach wire to the handles of the vegetables and then secure the other end to a short garden stake. Poke the stakes into the potting soil to secure your design and to help balance the tower of plenty.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ provides dried flowers.
The late summer flowering perennial sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is available at garden centers and nurseries in the fall and this drought resistant plant thrives in beds and borders. You can also use the thick, cut stems of this sedum to add flower power to autumn pots. Prune off the rust colored blooms with 8 to 10 inches of stem from this or any other flowering sedum and insert the cut end of the stem into potting soil or arrange in a basket for a quick and easy seasonal display. A mix of dried flowers such as hydrangeas and sedums displayed in a porch pot is a wonderful way to welcome your guests and the change in seasons.
Showcase some fall foliage.
Love the fiery colors that adorn your maples? Clip some branches and display in your container gardens. You can also staple some maple leaves to a length of twine and use this as a garland around your doorway. Don’t have any fall foliage to display from your garden? Visit the craft store for some realistic stems of maple leaves to poke into container gardens for a season display. There are no rules to worry about when it comes to gardening or making your outdoor space more beautiful – if you like how it looks, just grow for it.