Fall Planter Ideas

Update your summer planters at the end of the season with these fall planter ideas and inspiration to save you time and money.

As summer comes to an end, it's time to spruce up or create new fall pots of color, for your entrance, patio, or porch. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite fall planter ideas that will last several months. These ideas work well for any container gardens you've planted.

Here in our Zone 6 garden, so many of the summer flower planters have grown past their prime.

Fall Planter Ideas

The only thing looking good in this large planter, on my front porch is Lamium, 'Orchid Frost.' It even needs some pruning. I dug out the flowering begonia in the back and re-potted it to bring it inside.

Then I cleaned up any dead or poor looking foliage and created a beautiful planter for the fall. As always, keep in mind the thriller (tall), filler (bushy), and spiller (trailing) theory, to create a gorgeous looking planter.

I kept the Lamium because it will overwinter in this pot, and it has a nice trailing habit. The three plants shown above are all annuals. They will not make it past a couple of frosts, but since the planter is located on a covered porch, I trust that they will hold their own through the end of November. After that, I'll be changing things up for the holidays.

A couple of other great annuals for fall containers would be ornamental kale, ornamental cabbages, or a different variety of coleus. You don't necessarily need fall flowers as the leaves have beautiful color and interest.

Even better choices for fall container gardens are the three listed above because they're all hardy perennials in my area, and will last through the winter. Depending on how cold it gets, I could keep them there until next year. However, I will probably move them into the garden, on a warm day in late November, or early December, to make room for new Christmas decor.

I would have liked to purchase all perennials for this planter. Still, the purple fountain grass to me is so gorgeous, that I felt it was worth the price.

And, the sweet potato vine and coleus have been at the nursery from the beginning of the season, so I was able to purchase them at 50% off. I do love a bargain.

I think this planter will look great during the cooler temperatures and works well for Halloween all the way through Thanksgiving. Then it will be time to make room for some fun and interesting Christmas decor.

More Fall Flower Pot Inspiration

Here's another one (above) that I created a few years ago. I added some ornamental kale, a bright pink mum for a pop of color, and a light orange faux pumpkin.

One year I had an amazing chartreuse sweet potato vine that grew vigorously all summer so I kept it and added Heliopsis 'Burning Hearts' and a dark purple heuchera aka coral bells (both perennials).

Another year I had some beautiful purple tradescantia and green/gray dichondra that still looked good at the end of the summer. Some pretty mums and faux pumpkins filled in nicely for fall.

Sometimes I do tear out the summer flowers. Here's a fall planter with only one variety, pretty yellow English marigold blooms with a lantern set in the middle. A little fall faux leaf and berries on the lantern add a nod to autumn.

More Fall Planter Tips

If you have two flanking pots, consider buying one of each plant and dividing them into two. This works for many plants sold in quart and gallon pots and will save you money. It also allows you to plant a greater variety into a smaller pot.

Also, don't be afraid to add gourds or even a few sprigs of artificial berries to give your planter more color and texture.

Fall Planter Ideas Recap:

• Keep some of the plants that still look good in the planter
• Buy perennials that you can reuse in the garden
• Divide larger pots into two pieces - 2 for the price of 1
• Add artificial floral accents for extra texture and color
• Add other fall accents like gourds or Indian corn 
• Consider moving plants from the garden into your planter
• Look for end of the summer annual plant sales in shades of autumn

My mother was big on sayings like, "Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater." I think that oldie but goodie fits in this instance. Don't throw out your good plants and replace them all. Just update them for fall.