Falling Up: Replanting Your Containers for Autumn

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Sarah Landicho

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Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho

Purple fountain grass makes a lovely backdrop for a fall planting, while ornamental cabbage is a striking focal point. A last-minute addition of “recycled” dusty miller really finished off this fall container!

Fall is my favorite time of year, and come Labor Day, I’m ready for it. Maybe that’s rushing it a bit, but I don’t care. Because I know that when September comes to Chicago, autumn can happen at any moment – and I just want to be able to enjoy the crisp fall colors as long as I can.

True to form, temps here suddenly dropped 20 degrees just two days after a 90-degree Labor Day weekend. The time had come to pick up my gardening gloves and get digging – I wanted to make over the containers in our front yard that had fallen victim to summer’s heat. I envisioned filling them with ornamental cabbages, purple fountain grass, purple potato vines, ivy and mums, mums, mums! But first, I had to get rid of the old to make room for the new. So out went my spent calibrachoa, petunias, green potato vine and bacopa – and most of the old potting soil, too. (The lot of it went straight to the compost pile.)

Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho

Planting ornamental cabbage on its side means you can enjoy its beautiful “bloom” head-on.

Next came figuring out my planting configuration. My summer planting was more of a rising mound with evenly spaced plants all around the container’s bowl. It looked nice, but I wanted some height for fall. So I started by centering the fountain grass in the back of the container as the backdrop for the rest of the plants. Then I centered the cabbage at the base of the container in the front. I planted this on its side so you could really see the cabbage’s beauty head-on as you walk toward our front steps.

Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho

A mum and ivy on one side and a potato vine and mum on the other add to this container’s fullness.

The trailing plants came next, and that’s where the potato vine and ivy came in. I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted them, so I experimented a little – popping them in just behind the cabbage or right in front of the grass. (I settled on the latter.) Then in went the mums, which I moved around a bit, too. (I’m a big fan of leaving plants in their pots to see where I like them best – I get much better results finalizing my containers with the plants in my hands rather than just designing with my mind’s eye.) A step back every now and then gave me much-needed perspective.

Facts

If you’re not on top of watering, container plants can quickly take a turn for the worse. If you’re worried you might forget to water or head out of town on a frequent basis, consider adding a water-storing polymer (like Soil Moist) to the planting mix. These polymers act like a slow-release fertilizer in that they release moisture over time, reducing the need for watering.

Tips

I like the height and color purple fountain grass brings to fall containers, but you can certainly use other grasses as a backdrop for your plantings. If you’re really adventurous, substitute branches from shrubs bearing lovely berries or colorful rose hips – or maybe even try an evergreen for a container that can take you into winter!

Faqs

Q: When should I change out my fall arrangement for something more appropriate for winter?
A: Whenever plants start looking bad is a good time to give your containers a makeover. If you want something quick and easy for winter, try popping in a small evergreen. If it’s too cold to plant, try holiday decorations, lights or wreaths. When spring comes, try popping in some prechilled bulbs or already-blooming tulips for some great eye-popping color.

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