Mums the Word: Tips for Adding Fall Color to the Garden

“I’m so happy to live in a world where there are Octobers…”

L.M. Montgomery

Quick Tips for Adding Fall Color to the Garden

If you’ve visited my blog before, you know I’m a gal who loves her garden.

While Spring and Summer are the months we think of most often for gardening, Fall is still prime garden time. Even around the Great Lakes where we live…

People in my neighborhood often ask me how I maintain such a colorful yard after the days get shorter and the mercury drops…

So I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite Fall looks with you this week!

Pumpkins & Pansies

I love combining small pumpkins (aka gourds) and Jack Frost pansies.

And they last well after the frost sets in, which is predicted to be tonight…

The gourds below are the ones I use in my window boxes starting in mid- to late-September

I buy twice as many as I want to actually use and keep the second set in a cool spot in the garage.

Because I use little iron sticks to showcase the pumpkins up in my window boxes and containers, they rot after about a month and need to be replaced around Halloween.

Then they are good to go until Thanksgiving weekend when the holiday greens go in!

Black Eyed Susans

These are another of my favorites…

The Black Eyed Susans in my garden last well in to the fall if I cut them back in late August, feed them and keep them watered.

I also buy a few pots of them in September after the green houses mark them way down.

Those go in to my fall windowboxes and containers.

If you are faithful about deadheading them and watering them in containers, just like those in the ground, they will last in to November.

You can also see the tops of my sedum in this photo… they are a great year around perennial to have in the garden.

Kale is More than a Superfood

And then there are the greens, purples, yellows and blues found in kales and cabbages…

They look great in containers, window boxes and borders.

Around here, they still look fab at Thanksgiving!

Mums the Word

Can’t forget the obvious right?

Mums are the flowers of fall…

I combine them with anything and everything!

 

Petunias, Salvia, Zinnias, Geraniums and More

I know what you are thinking… those are summer flowers!

But at the end of August, I cut back and feed all of my annuals really well. Within a few weeks, they bloom again. Many last until after the first few frosts.

So my final tip is to pull the dead stuff and keep coaxing the good stuff along. Add Fall favorites to replace the dead stuff.

I took this photo in late October and the petunia are still going strong!

Ditto for these photos I took at the end of October last year…

Planting Spring Bulbs in Windowboxes

Next week I’ll be sharing how to plant spring bulbs in containers and windowboxes…

I’ve had emails from a few folks about it so I will share a few tips to help you have beautiful blooming bulb flowers all spring long!

I hope you will stop back…

Please Subscribe to my blog (upper right corner of this page) and follow me on social media. I share more behind the scenes peeks at our crazy life on Instagram and love to meet and follow new friends to follow on Pinterest!

Thanks again for stopping in for a visit!

XO

Shelley