Autumnal Flora Blossoms Ideal for Your Backyard Blooms
In the crisp autumn air, fall container gardens come alive with a riot of colours and scents. Here's a guide to creating your own colourful, productive, and seasonally appropriate fall container gardens that can last through autumn and even into winter in milder climates.
Flowering Fall Containers
Marigolds, particularly French marigolds, are a staple of the fall garden. They grow tall and are best suited for large containers. Their yellow, orange, and red blooms complement the autumn colours beautifully. Calendula, frost-tolerant and preferring cool fall weather, can bloom through winter in milder climates. It offers bright orange, yellow, and bronze flowers. Coreopsis and Black-eyed Susans are also popular for fall, offering cheerful, daisy-like blooms that last into fall. Bergenia provides striking foliage interest with its bold, glossy leaves that turn burgundy in fall. 'Emerald' arborvitae adds year-round structure and colour, maintaining rich green foliage even in winter.
Ornamental cabbages and kale (Brassica oleracea) will take you well into the fall season with their lovely sage greens and pinks and purples. Pansies are cool-season annuals that can also be planted in the fall once the weather has cooled. They are not suited for the scorching summer months and are available in a variety of colours, including yellow, purple, and red. Asters do best in containers when planted in rich soil, kept damp but not soggy, and grown in direct sunlight. After flowering, the stems should be cut back and the potted plants stored in a cold frame or greenhouse.
Edible Fall Containers
Cool-season vegetables that do well in containers and tolerate mild frost include lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, chard, turnips, arugula, and carrots. Carrots require deep containers to accommodate root growth. Cilantro thrives as a fall herb and should be direct-seeded in cooler weather for best results.
Tips for Successful Fall Container Gardening
- Choose container mixes with good drainage.
- Pick varieties labeled as "compact," "great for containers," or "cold hardy."
- Deadhead flowers to prolong blooming.
- Protect or bring containers indoors in case of hard frost.
- Cosmos do not require any soil preparation and can grow up to 6 feet tall. They have daisy-like blossoms and occur in a variety of colours, including crimson, pink, chocolate brown, yellow, orange, and gold. Cosmos thrive in both beds and containers and make excellent cut flowers.
- Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) plants reach a height of 6 to 12 inches and produce spherical flower heads in purple, pink, magenta, red, yellow, and white.
By following these tips and guidelines, you can create a stunning and productive fall container garden that will bring joy to your autumn days. Happy gardening!
- To enhance your home-and-garden lifestyle during autumn, consider planting marigolds, calendula, coreopsis, Black-eyed Susans, and bergenia in large pots for a colorful fall container garden.
- Ornamental cabbages, kale, pansies, and ornamental lettuces will provide a beautiful, edible display in your garden nursery, suitable for milder climates.
- When planning your edible fall container garden, include cold-hardy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, chard, turnips, arugula, and carrots, ensuring to provide deep containers for carrot root growth.
- Maintaining a successful fall container garden involves choosing container mixes with good drainage, selecting compact, cold-hardy varieties, deadheading flowers to prolong blooming, and protecting containers from hard frost.
- For an added touch, consider planting cosmos or globe amaranth in your pots; both thrive in both beds and containers and offer daisy-like blossoms in a variety of colors, making excellent cut flowers.
