Fresh Fall Container Gardens

Mum Accents

Mums don't feel quite as common when grouped with other containers. Here, a tub of 'Spicy Cheryl Orange' mums gets a lift from the airy plumes of maiden grass and dried pampas grass in an adjacent container and a smaller bucket of cabbage adorned with pieces of bittersweet in front.

Fall Updates

Mums and gourds give a fall revival to a rosemary plant held over from summer. The muted color palette of pale green, grey and white transitions the arrangement subtly from summer to fall.

Packed to the Brim

Choose containers you love and pack them to the brim in autumn. The planter (left) includes helichrysum 'Icicles', creeping Jenny, pansies, kale, black-eyed susans and sedum 'Autumn Joy'. The wire basket (right) holds Swiss chard, ornamental peppers, pansies, black-eyed Susan and golden sage.

Edible Arrangements

Try edible chard with mums, yellow pansies, birch sticks, red verbena and two-tone calibrachoa. Chard leaves can be selectively picked throughout the fall or saved for a full harvest at the end of the season. Enjoy chopped in salads or sautéed in stir fries. Other ornamental edibles include 'Lacinato' kale, Redbor kale, leaf lettuces and herbs.

High-Reaching Display

Dried banana stems, bleached white, create eye-catching height in a fall container. Sedum 'Angelina' spills over the edge while the frilly leaves of 'Peacock White' kale wrap around white Lumina pumpkins.

Pumpkin Pretty

Emphasize the bounty of autumn by packing your fall container garden with a variety of plants. They don't need much elbow room for end-of-the-season growing. This planter, an antique cream separator, makes good neighbors of (clockwise, from top middle) red cockscomb celosia, yellow pansies, blue fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'), orange 'Peter Pan Mix' zinnias, 'Pink Pewter' lamium, 'Deep Orange' pansies and rosemary. Pumpkins and gourds displayed next to your fall container add even more seasonal color.

Fall Window Box

Dress up your window box for fall with gourds and vegetables in a variety of shapes and textures. Our veggies included chartreuse Romanesco broccoli, Cipollini onions, large cabbage heads, and strings of Brussels sprouts on stalks. Vegetables can last two to three weeks in cool weather.

Pumpkin Focus

A tall pumpkin with a sculptural stem anchors this fall container display. (To make the pumpkin last longer, set it on a piece of stone so it doesn't touch moist soil.) Also in the container: mounding Sedum 'Angelina' and an assortment of gourds, arranged so some spill over the pot's edge.

Fall Fireworks

This vivid container features bold Aster 'Purple Dome' and flowering kale, creating a festive feel with bright colors. The arching lines of variegated sedge (Carex hachijoensis) offer a striking complement.

Easy Transition

Red twigs add cheer and height in this fall-to-winter container of wintergreen, Mugo dwarf pine, the white-variegated foliage of Hebe Variegata, maidengrass 'Morning Light', and ornamental millet 'Purple Baron'.

Skirting the Subject

Give a plain potted chrysanthemum a style boost by surrounding it with small pumpkins and gourds. The "skirt" also hides the mum's stems.

Crazy for Kale

One of fall's healthiest veggies looks as good in a vase as it does on your plate. Group flowering kale with vibrant flowers for easy autumnal arrangements.

Find colorful kales at your local farmers market or flower shop. To grow in your garden: Plant them in moist, well-drained soil in full sun.

In our container at back, vibrant orange Ranunculus and pincushion flowers give white flowering kale a boost. In the smaller container, purple mini calla lilies blend with purple kale, while globe-shape yellow billy balls (Craspedia) provide happy accents.

Pumpkin Globe

A metal sphere shows off cool-weather-loving violas and a pumpkin. Insert a moss liner into the sphere, fill with soil, and set the pumpkin in the center. Tuck in violas around the edge.

Tub of Color

Ornamental grasses bring handsome height to a metal laundry tub. 'Burgundy Giant' red fountaingrass provides a rusty backdrop for dark pink, daisylike 'Cecilia' chrysanthemum and cheerful Sundaze Golden Yellow strawflower. Petite blue fescue adds texture at the front of the vintage container.

Overflowing Wheelbarrow

A mound of bold purple mums becomes the focal point among foliage in a wheelbarrow. In front of the mums, purple flowering kale blends with trailing bacopa. Spurge brings a hint of red to the far right and left corners. The purple-tinted leaves of bugleweed separate two clumps of spiky santolina. Fox-red curly sedge adds an airy note in back.

Simple Groupings

Beautiful containers can be as simple as one type of plant per pot. Group several one-plant pots for maximum impact. Here, pots of mums, pansies, burning bush and kalanchoe add bright fall color to the patio setting.

Tall Advantages

Tall plants such as cannas provide dramatic focal points in containers. This half wine barrel holds generously sized orange-blooming Tropicanna cannas, purple fountaingrass, firebush (Hamelia patens), lantanas and zinnias.