Fall Container Plants: 24 Top Choices For Stunning Autumn Pots
Just because the autumn air gets chilly doesn’t mean you need to stop planting! This is the perfect time to decorate your porch or patio with planters filled with fall container plants in red, orange, purple, gold, and other autumn colors. To inspire your planter design, here are some of our favorite plant selections for fall, plus tips to help you create a container garden that’s every bit as colorful as the changing leaves.
Getting Started with Fall Container Gardening
Before planting a container garden, you’ll need to gather a few supplies. Porch planters, a large pot, hanging baskets, or window boxes can all be used to house autumn plants. Just make sure to choose a large container that can accommodate the types of plants you’d like to keep, and double check that containers have drainage holes.
Well-draining potting mix is a must-have, but you may also want to add some mulch or moss over the soil for extra insulation. Placing small pumpkins, branches, or colorful sprigs of berries around container plants can make fall planters look even more inviting.
24 Fall Container Plants to Grow in Cooler Weather
Container plants are often divided into three main categories: thrillers, fillers, and spillers. Mixing these plant types together can create a more complex planter look.
Thrillers
The star of the show, thrillers, often have brightly colored flowers or leaves, and are usually a bit taller than fillers.
- Mums
A classic for front porch planters, garden mums are more cold-hardy than florist mums and they’re sure to charm with showy flowers in shades of gold, orange, and burgundy.
- Rudbeckia
Also known as Black-Eyed Susan, most gardeners grow rudbeckia in inground gardens, but these adaptable plants are suitable for fall containers as well. Birds love their seeds.
- Ornamental Grasses
While most thrillers produce flowers, ornamental grasses draw the eye with their strong silhouettes and fluffy seed heads. For that “wow factor,” try colorful varieties like purple fountain grass or blue fescue.
- Echinacea
Echinacea or purple coneflower is highly appealing to fall pollinators. Its pale purple flowers complement fall container plants with golden or orange blooms.
- Ornamental Peppers
Ornamental peppers, like ‘Sedona Sun,’ can bring a playful feel to a large planter or window box. They’re even edible but super spicy.
- Cordyline
Cordyline’s magenta leaves can be used as a colorful backdrop for lower growing flowers. At the end of the season, cordylines can be brought indoors and grown as houseplants.
- Sunflowers
Pint-sized dwarf sunflowers adapt easily to planters and pots, but these sun-lovers need full sun to flower.
- Salvias
Whether you grow them in inground flower beds or a larger container garden, salvias are a pollinator favorite that should flower well through fall.
- Lantana
Bright orange, yellow, red, and pink flowers make lantanas stand out, but in colder climates, plants die back when the first frost hits.
- Phormium
Phormium is an eye-catching foliage plant with boldly striped and colorful leaves. In warm areas, these plants remain evergreen and grow perennially.
Are you looking for inspiration for container garden designs? We’ve rounded up our favorite fall container garden ideas from the web to make your search easier.
Fillers
Fillers include both flowering and foliage plants. They can be used to fill in empty soil space and complement the look of thrillers.
- Ornamental Brassicas
Ornamental cabbage, ornamental kale, and Swiss chard are multi-purpose plants that can be enjoyed as colorful ornamentals or used as edibles. Some ornamental brassicas are bitter, but edible chard is always tasty.
- Pansies
Gardeners often use colorful pansies to spice up summer containers. These plants have an impressive cold tolerance and make fantastic fall flowers, too.
- Crotons
There are lots of different crotons; however, most have glossy green leaves with splashes of orange, yellow, or red coloring. During the cooler months, crotons can be grown as houseplants.
- Calibrachoa
Also known as million bells, calibrachoa’s trumpet-shaped flowers come in tons of fall colors and their cascading stems are well-suited for hanging baskets.
- Celosia
A member of the Amaranth family, celosias sprout readily from seed, they come in different shapes and sizes, and coordinate beautifully with most fall plants.
- Asters
Native to North America, asters are particularly beneficial to bees, but you can also harvest their daisy-like flowers for bouquets.
- Sedums
No list of fall container plant picks is complete without sedums. These succulents come in different shapes and colors, and many keep their dried flowerheads until the next spring.
- Marigolds
An excellent choice for any container garden, marigolds enliven drab spots with their bright orange or yellow flowers, and they repel pests from neighboring flowers.
- Heuchera
Heuchera or coral bells do flower, but these plants are mostly grown for their bewitching leaves, which come in vivid shades of gold, copper, purple, and chartreuse.
- Evergreens
Evergreens are some of the best plants to use as fillers in container gardens because they hold up well in cool weather and remain green through the winter months. Dwarf evergreens or plants that tolerate frequent pruning, like dwarf Alberta spruce or boxwood, are ideal for small spaces.
I’m switching seasons, but here are 23 flowers for pots that bloom all summer long.
Spillers
Spiller plants have long, trailing stems that add drama to hanging baskets. They can also soften planter edges and add complexity to container designs as well.
- Lysimachia
Lysimachia, or creeping Jenny plants, are famous for their bright green or chartreuse trailing leaves but also produce yellow flowers.
- Dichondra.
The silver-toned leaves of trailing dichondra plants add a soft texture and a traditional feel to hanging baskets, pots, or window boxes.
- Ipomoea
Also known as sweet potato vines, ipomoea leaves come in dramatic shades of dark purple or lime green. However, these heat-loving plants are easily damaged by cooler temperatures.
- Ivy
English ivy can become invasive in the garden, but ivies are more manageable in containers. If you love the glossy look of ivy leaves, bring English ivy indoors and grow it as a houseplant when the fall season ends.
Want to make your indoor spaces cozy & more festive this autumn season? Check out these fall home decor DIY inspirations.
How to Combine Container Plants
Combining at least one thriller, one spiller, and a few filler plants is an easy way to create a colorful planter look. But if you love playing around with shapes and colors, you can combine flowering and foliage plants with ornamental grasses or grow fall plants with complementary colors in a single pot. A color wheel can help you find the best color combinations.
Caring for Fall Container Gardens
Fall container plants need to be watered regularly and provided with the right amount of light for their needs. Deadheading spent flowers and using frost blankets on chilly nights can also extend the flowering and growing season. And remember, growing plants with the same basic care needs together in the same container will make plant maintenance much easier!
Once cold weather arrives, annual and frost-sensitive plants will die away, but perennial plants may regrow in spring. Moving planters into a protected spot or insulating them with frost blankets or straw should protect tender roots and ensure your planters don’t break when the soil freezes.
Conclusion
Adding new plants to fall container gardens will extend your growing season and add autumn color to your front porch or patio. But when winter sets in in earnest, it’s time to toss dead plants in the compost pile, get cozy indoors, and start planning for spring. No matter the time of the year, there’s always something to do in the garden and a new season to plan for!
Happy Gardening,
Lauren
Lauren Landers is a Master Gardener and gardening writer living in Maine. After running a small organic farm in New England for several years, Lauren transitioned to freelance writing and loves helping others discover the beauty of organic and pollinator gardening!
