As the weather cools, we begin to prepare our gardens for winter. You can add some color to your landscaping by using containers. It’s the season to gather, so what better way to beautify your front step? Here, we’ll explore plants that will stand out and attract attention in your Thanksgiving containers and planters.
You don’t need to feel stressed when you are re-starting or refreshing your containers. A plan is useful before you go to the shop. The plants on this list can tolerate mild temperatures, and they will add a touch of fall to your porch.
You can plant Thanksgiving containers. choose plants that you love and fit with your home’s style Use this article to inspire you and guide you while shopping! You can use this article as a guide to shopping and inspiration.
Ornamental Pepper ‘Medusa’
Botanical name Capsicum annuum ‘Medusa’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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Height 6-8 Inches |
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hardiness zones 10-11 |
Consider giving your cornucopia planter the look of being a true “horn of plenty” by adding ornamental peppers. These peppers have a bright color and are very attractive. The ‘Medusa’ variety combines red and yellow peppers with green leaves.
You can also find ornamental peppers that have deep purple foliage and peppers.
Enjoy the beauty of a cornucopia companion:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Flowering Kale | Brassica oleracea |
Snapdragon | Antirrhinum major |
Winter Squash | Cucurbita pepo |
Cottage Cabbage
In the autumn, garden centers are flooded with ornamental cabbage plants. These plants are both beautiful and long-lasting.
If you want to give your front step a charming cottage look, mix in a few whimsical plants along with your ornamental cauliflower. You can add cold-tolerant plant to your container if mums aren’t your thing or if your containers need something different.
Ornamental cabbage comes in green, white, purple and other colors. Select the color that appeals to you. Ornamental kale looks great in its own container for Thanksgiving. You can play around with texture and color by clustering a few pots.
Companion Plant Ideas
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Dichondra | Dichondra argentea |
Purple Fountain Grass | Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’ |
Sweet Alyssum | Lobularia species |
Edible Beauty
Autumn is an excellent time to grow cool-season crops. Why not use those veggies in a decorative container at Thanksgiving as well?
These containers add a farmhouse charm to any porch and are ready for harvesting or snipping when you need them. Combine a few pots or combine some edible beauties into one large pot.
Try ‘Celebration’ Swiss chard. The plant’s rainbow of stems really makes it stand out. This plant is also a great addition to salads and sauteed veggies. The vibrantly colored stems add a splash of color to window boxes and containers.
More edible ideas
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Beets | Beta vulgaris |
Mustard Greens | Brassica juncea |
Pansy | Viola tricolor var. hortensis |
Foliage in the Fall
When we picture fall, the first thing that comes to mind is the changing colors of leaves. A colorful container filled with fall foliage is a great choice, particularly if you don’t see much of the changing colors in your area.
Use any plant that you like. Perennials, annuals or a mixture of both could be used. For a true autumnal look, choose bright colors like red, yellow and orange.
Coleus is grown for its foliage primarily, but it also produces spikey purple blooms. ‘Fishnet Stockings’ is a good choice for autumn pots because it has a medium splash of green with deep purple accents. You should choose a coleus whose color combination is right for you. There are many orange and yellow varieties on the market, such as ‘Freckles.’
There are many plants that have beautiful leaves.
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Coral Bells | Heuchera spp. |
Sweet potato vine | Ipomoea batatas |
Umbrella grass ‘Baby Tut’ | Cyperus involucratus |
Feeding the Bees
In the spring and summer, many gardeners concentrate on pollinator gardens. Don’t forget the bees in the fall, though! Our flowers can still help them as they are nearing the end of their feeding period.
Containers are a great way to grow many of the plants we use in our perennial gardens in warmer months. These perennials are treated as annuals and can be planted in your garden before it freezes.
I use black-eyed Susans to fill my fall containers. Their yellow and brown flowers make the perfect combination for fall colors. Deadhead spent flowers to encourage new growth.
You can plant this perennial alone or in containers. In either case, you’ll be happy to see how many bees buzzing around your container.
Pollinator-friendly plants are more common:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Beebalm | Monarda |
Coneflower | Echinacea spp. |
Butterfly Weed | Asclepias tuberosa |
Golden Goodness
Yellow and orange shades combine to create the perfect fall container. These shades will provide the brightest, most vibrant colors of summer until the first frost.
Choose yellow or orange flowers, and add some yellow grasses to create a visual interest. You can either combine your plants in one large container or group a few pots for a similar visual effect.
Sunflowers can be beautiful fall flowers. The yellow faces of these sunflowers are loved by everyone and they make beautiful container plants. These flowers can be started from seed or purchased as nursery starts at your local garden center.
Combining sunflowers with plants that grow slower will create a lush pot.
Common Name | Scientific Name |
California Poppy | Eschscholzia californica |
Pot Marigold | Calendula officinalis |
Zinnia | Zinnia elegans |
Hanging Harvest
The hanging basket is a timeless classic. They can add beauty to your home all year round if you are willing and able to change out the plants.
Fall doesn’t mean you have to nix your flowering annuals, either. Keep what’s good or replace it with annuals in autumnal colors like orange, yellow, purple or any other color that suits your decor.
Verbena is great for hanging baskets, because it grows in a neat mounded habit and trails perfectly out of the basket. ‘Peachy Keen’ mixes shades of peach and orange and is perfect for fall.
Verbena looks great on its own, but it also works well with other annual flowers or grasses. Choose a color scheme that suits your home, and select plants you enjoy.
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Nasturtium | Tropaeolum majus |
Petunia | Petunia spp. |
‘Toffee Twist’ Carex | Carex flagellifera ‘Toffee Twist’ |
Herb Mix
When designing your Thanksgiving planters, keep in mind that they can also be useful and beautiful.
Mix herbs you use in your home or know that you will use when cooking holiday meals. You can place these planters on your deck and they can also be brought inside near a window.
Sage is used in many Thanksgiving dishes. This herb is a great choice for containers because of its soft texture and silver-green colour.
Select a few of your favorite flowering annuals or combine sage and other herbs. Sage is a great choice for shorter thrillers because it pairs well with many colors of flowers.
Additional Thanksgiving Herbs:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Parsley | Petroselinum crispum |
Rosemary | Rosmarinus officinalis |
Thyme | Thymus vulgaris |
Mums the word
Nothing says “fall” more than garden mums. These plants come in a variety of colors, making it easy to blend them into your garden’s color scheme or to create a jewel-toned rainbow of mums.
The mums look beautiful on their own in a pot, but they can be easily jazzed-up by adding some plants. Choose blue containers to add a pop of color.
The garden mum. Who doesn’t love them? They are the perfect autumn plant, reaching a height of about 2 feet. Mums are available in many sizes. They make great options for large window boxes and containers. You can mix and match colors or select one color to create a stunning monochromatic look.
The best companion plants for mums
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Licorice Plant | Helichrysum thianschanicum ‘Icicle’ |
Pearl Millet | Pennisetum glaucum |
Ornamental Cabbage | Brassica oleracea var. Acephala |
Neutral is Nice
Often, fall is filled with bold colors, but that isn’t for everyone. You can create a monochromatic look by combining many neutral colors.
Select plants that have different textures to add depth and dimension to your container. Add a few white mini pumpkins to the container for a muted autumn flair.
Mexican snowballs are a popular succulent. It is a succulent that grows well in containers. In this case, it makes an unexpectedly beautiful addition to a mixed fall container.
Once you’ve finished decorating your porch with these plants, bring them into your home and add them your houseplant collection.
Accentuate your succulents with white or light-colored plants:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Dusty Miller | Jacobaea maritima |
Ice Plant | Lampranthus deltoides |
Mini White Pumpkin | Cucurbita pepo |
Pumpkin Pot
It’s a great way to recycle pumpkins from Halloween. Or, go and buy one new! Hollow out the pumpkin by carving a hole at the top. Remove all seeds and as much pumpkin meat as you can. Use a hand drill to make drainage holes at the bottom of the squash.
Fill your pumpkins with potting soil, and choose flowering plants or foliage to plant into your new eco-friendly pot. A single plant looks best in pumpkin pots. Add more texture and dimension by clustering a few pots.
The mum is a great choice for a planter. The mums are vibrant and evocative of autumn. The mum’s mounded shape also compliments the pumpkin’s shape very nicely.
More Ideas
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Aster | Symphyotrichum novae-angliae |
Marigold | Daytes spp. |
Stonecrop | Sedum spp. |
Pumpkin Pillar
If you still have good mixed containers after the summer season, a pumpkin pillar can save your plants as well as money.
Choose a few of your favorite pumpkins. Cinderella or other flattened pumpkins work better. Place your spillers instead of your containers, and stack your pumpkins on top of the soil.
Companion Plants
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Ivy | Hedera spp. |
Sweet Potato Vine | Ipomoea batatas |
Lady Fern | Athyrium filix-femina |
Perfect Pansies
You might not think of pansies when you picture fall. They grow just as well in cool autumn weather.
You already know that pansies can be combined with any other plant. Plants that you like or those that are already there!
Cool weather is best for pansies. These happy flowers are often associated with spring, but they look just as beautiful in the fall. You can keep pansies you planted in spring in a shady area of your garden during the summer.
Pansy pals:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Angel Wings | Senecio candicans |
Fiber Optic Grass | Isolepis cernua |
Vinca (Greater Periwinkle) | Vinca major |
Use Dried Flowers
Sometimes, all our pots need is a little sprucing-up or trimming to get them through the fall. You can add dried flowers from your own garden to your pots and give them a new lease of life.
Consider pairing your dried flower with any plant you like, or snipping evergreens branches to highlight the beauty of your dried flower.
Dry hydrangea flowers are great for arrangements in the fall. You can get a number of benefits by allowing your hydrangea blooms to naturally dry on the shrub. Firstly, you could cut them and stick them directly into your pots once they’re dry. This would instantly add autumnal colors to your pots. You can also enjoy the flowers of the shrub throughout the winter.
Other notable dried flower:
Common Name | |
Cock’s Comb | Celosia species |
Globe Amaranth | Gomphrena globosa |
Globe Thistle | Echinops Spp. |
Vertical Veggies
Vertical planters are a great solution if space is an issue. These tall planters can be filled with flowers or fruits, herbs or vegetables all summer long. But don’t rush to put it away once the fall rolls in!
Vertical planters have multiple levels. Each tier is placed on top of each other. Beets and other root vegetables can grow in plenty of soil. The top tier of the garden is ideal for plants that are taller or wider.
Beets, a cool-season vegetable with vibrant colors for your garden, are a wonderful choice. The leaves and stems will vary in color, but the ribs are usually a vibrant red.
For the ultimate fall edible garden, combine beets and flowers with cool-season veggies or other cool season vegetables.
Planting fall vegetables:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Garlic | Allium sativum |
Kale | Brassica oleracea |
Spinach | Spinacia oleracea |
Wintery Window Boxes
Sometimes it’s a good thing to skip Halloween and go straight into winter. There are many options when it comes to winter containers.
Plants can also be grown in pots and stored in a shed. You can also stick holly or pine stems into the soil by snipping them. Arrange them nicely and add some berries, or possibly mums, and you’ve set yourself up for a winter of green beauty.
Heath is an evergreen perennial flowering plant that looks great in holiday pots. The spiked flowers come in pink, white, and purple shades.
It is beautiful to add heath to an open container or window box. The plants can be kept small enough for containers, but also look beautiful enough to stand out.
Some more evergreen beauties:
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Alberta dwarf spruce | Picea glauca ‘Conica’ |
Dwarf Globe Japanese Cedar | Cryptomeria japonica ‘Globosa Nana’ |
Goshiki Osmanthus | Osmanthus heterophyllus |
Cornucopia
In the past, the cornucopia or horn of plenty was a symbol of abundance. Since then, the cornucopia has become a symbol of Thanksgiving.
Cornucopias tend to be ceramic baskets or ceramic pots that are filled with food. Fill it with flowers or plants to create your own version of this symbol. It would be a beautiful welcome for guests to arrive at your home.
Final Thoughts
You can begin planning your trip as early as now. Containers or planters for ThanksgivingConsider plants that will be both useful and beautiful. These containers can be the highlight of your garden in autumn, while your other plants are going dormant. Choosing the best plants for your garden can make a big difference. And, of course, don’t forget to add some pumpkins!