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Add a Thrilling Porch Planter for Fall

Fall is a fabulous time to add some porch planters or to re-design the ones you have. With the changing season we embrace new flowers and a new color palette. Orange is a major fall color of course, and yellow is a great accent, along with the ever present green. Purple, as a fellow secondary color, provides a wonderful contrast to orange.

Mums are a standard of fall planters, but many other plants are just as wonderful. We have some plant suggestions you may not have considered for getting those fall colors. Remember, when selecting plants for your containers think “thriller” (something eye-catching), “filler” (greenery or something to fill the spaces), and “spiller” (plants that cascade out of containers add a nice touch).

This lovely container has it all: orange crotons, an orange-flowering spiller, tall feathery ornamental grass, and peeking out from the back, deep purple ornamental pepper.
This lovely container has it all: orange crotons, an orange-flowering spiller, tall feathery ornamental grass, and peeking out from the back, deep purple ornamental pepper.

Oranges and Yellows

Bromeliads come in a range of colors; you can select an orange bromeliad to add a touch of tropical drama and height to your fall planter. Crotons are another unconventional orange option that provides tropical foliage. For edible color try Swiss chard, which comes in a variety of warm hues. Yellow to consider include calendula, yellow lantana, coreopsis, and snapdragons. Be sure to buy plants in bloom to get the flower color you desire. For a hot pop of color, add ornamental peppers to your planter.

Purples

Ornamental kale or cabbage can add some lush purple foliage to your planting container or red lettuces can bring in some nice burgundy shades. If you prefer floral purples, try pansies, Mexican bush sage, or one of the blue salvias.

Purple, long, strappy leaves of fountain grass spill over a container next to a door
Ornamental grasses are just one choice for a “spiller” in your fall planter.

Fills, Thrills, and Spills

Fountain grass has a very “fall” look and dwarf cultivars can be used to gorgeous effect in planters. Sedums work wonderful as fillers in planters. Ornamental sweet potato vine can be a filler, spiller, and a color pop; it can be found with lime green or purple foliage. Sage can be added to your container for silvery-tinted filler. For a spooky addition to your planters add spider plant; it’s on-theme for Halloween and spills nicely out of containers.

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