This season brings new opportunities for rich colors and fall interest with these pretty picks and creative combos for fall planters.
Design Pretty Fall Planters With Autumn Colors
Updated Sep. 24, 2024
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Coordinating Your Fall Planters
When combining plants in fall planters, try selecting a trio that can fulfill each of these roles.
- Thriller: Strong colors or heavy visual interest; typically centered in container.
- Filler: Rounded growth that fills container space, making it look full.
- Spiller: Trailing growth typically placed at the edge of container to hang over the side.
Psst—these are the best fall flowers (that aren’t mums).
Choose the Right Container Size
Allen Pyle, a horticulture expert and outreach specialist at UW-Madison’s Division of Extension, suggests not holding back when it comes to container size. “Generally for containers, the bigger the better—as long as the filled containers are not too large and heavy to move when needed,” Allen says. “Large containers hold more nutrients and water, requiring less frequent watering and fertilization than smaller containers.”
Best Plants for Fall Planters
Cape Jewels
Also known as nemesia, cape jewels are native to South Africa and typically grown as annuals. Cape jewels tend to perform best in well-draining containers, and come in a wide variety of colors. Horticulturalist Allen Pyle says, “Their snapdragon-like flowers are fragrant, and they can tolerate light frosts.
Variety to Try: Sunsatia Blood Orange is low-maintenance thanks to being self-cleaning, meaning that instead of deadheading, the wind blows away spent blooms.
Calibrachoa
If you’re looking for continuous blooms that cascade over the sides of hanging baskets and fall planters, look no further than calibrachoa. “This plant prefers acidic soils—pH 5.5 to 6.5—and is prone to yellowing from iron deficiency in soils with pH above this range. ‘Acid lover’ fertilizers can be used to help keep the medium pH acidic,” Allen says.
Variety to Try: Bring in the hummingbirds with their favorite color. Superbells Red boasts pure red blooms that continue to look great into fall.
False Sunflower
False sunflower or oxeye sunflower may look like a true sunflower at first glance, but it’s a powerful perennial for containers thanks to its shorter height (3 to 5 feet) and golden blooms that continue to shine past summer. It’s relatively hardy and can even handle dry, rocky soil.
Variety to Try: You can skip the staking with Tuscan Sun false sunflower. This plant is incredibly compact and is an eye-catching choice for the ‘thriller’ in a mixed fall planter. Plus, bees and butterflies love it!
Common Verbena
“Typically grown as an annual, common verbena is actually a tender perennial in mild winter climates,” says Allen. It’s an extremely long bloomer (spring to early frost), but make sure to plant it in a space that receives full sun. “Verbena’s abundant flowers attract pollinators, including butterflies and hummingbirds,” Allen adds.
Variety to Try: Superbena Royale Plum Wine pulls double-duty as either ‘filler’ or ‘spiller’ in a mixed container due to its mounded shape and trailing growth. Plant it in a smaller container for best results.
African Daisy
Although several species go by the common name African daisy, look for Osteospermum — plants within this genus are more cold tolerant and work best in fall planters. “African daisy produces attractive flowers that bloom more heavily in cooler conditions, such as spring and fall,” Allen says.
Variety to Try: For big blooms that are especially heat tolerant, consider Bright Lights White African daisy. This variety isn’t a fan of heavy watering, though, so allow the top soil to dry out before grabbing your watering can.
Chek out the top 10 dazzling types of daisies you should grow.
Coral Bells
This perennial proves foliage can be the colorful star of the show too. “Foliage color in coral bells ranges from bronze to red, purple, peach shades, green with silver highlights—and many more,” Allen says. “Heuchera, or coral bells, are an excellent choice for adding texture to mixed containers, and their flowers attract hummingbirds.”
Variety to Try: Primo Black Pearl has dark ruffled leaves that make a dramatic statement. Like other coral bell varieties, you should move it to your landscape in early fall if you want it to reappear next year.
About the Expert
Allen Pyle is a horticulture expert and outreach specialist at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. He earned a bachelor of science in horticulture and a master of science in entomology, both from Michigan State University.
Sources
- Proven Winners – To Deadhead or Not to Deadhead
- Proven Winners – Sunsatia Blood Orange
- Growtanical – Nemesia
- Garden Design – Nemesia: A Care & Growing Guide
- North Carolina Cooperative Extension – Nemesia strumosa
- Proven Winners – Superbells Red
- University of Minnesota Extension – Calibrachoa
- Prairie Nursery – Ox Eye Sunflower
- PA Enflowered – Heliopsis helianthoides
- Proven Winners – Tuscan Sun’ Perennial Sunflower
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Heliopsis helianthoides
- Proven Winners – Superbena Royale Plum Wine
- Clemson Cooperative Extension – Verbena
- Proven Winners – Bright Lights White African Daisy
- University of Massachusetts Amherst – Production Guidelines for Four Crops—Osteospermum, Angelonia, Calibrachoa & Ornamental Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas)
- Proven Winners – Heuchera
- Proven Winners – Primo ‘Black Pearl’ Coral Bells
- North Carolina Cooperative Extension – Heuchera
- Proven Winners – Container Gardening Using The Thriller, Filler, Spiller Planting Technique
Originally Published: September 24, 2024
