Fall Container Ideas

Fall is an excellent time to show off seasonal favorites like mums, pansies, violas, flowering kale, and flowering cabbage. Mix colorful annuals with perennials, grasses, and evergreen accents to create beautiful containers for porches, patios, and entryways.

Have a Little Halloween Fun

Use solid-colored pansies in shades of orange and velvety black to create the perfect Halloween arrangement. Place them in a black, silver, or other dark-colored container for a fun seasonal addition alongside your front porch pumpkins and Jack O’Lanterns.

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Mix Pansies with Evergreens

Use a variety of colorful pansies as fillers around an evergreen centerpiece, such as an Arborvitae or compact Juniper. Add a trailing plant around the edges to soften the container and create a beautiful, more formal arrangement.

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Fill a Container with Dianthus

Use different colors or varieties of Dianthus to create a full container packed with blooms. Pair them with a simple, neutral-colored pot and let those bold flower colors steal the show!

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Make a Mum-Kin!

Here’s a fun fall idea—turn a pumpkin into a seasonal container for your favorite mum! Orange or yellow mums create a classic fall color palette, while pink, burgundy, or purple can add beautiful contrast against an orange pumpkin.

If planting directly into a hollowed pumpkin, remember that it is a temporary seasonal container and will eventually begin to deteriorate. For an arrangement that lasts longer, use the pumpkin decoratively around a mum that remains in its nursery pot.

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Fill a Strawberry Jar with Violas

Strawberry jar planters can be used for so much more than strawberries! Fill the openings with colorful violas and let them grow outward for a beautiful overflowing effect.

Mix several shades together for lots of color, or stick with one color family for a more coordinated look.

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Add a Little Sunshine

Create a sunny disposition even during fall! Plant yellow pansies—with or without their distinctive little “faces”—to create a cheerful grouping of golden color on your porch.

Add an ornamental grass as the “thriller” for extra height, movement, and texture. Just be sure to choose plants with similar sunlight and watering needs when combining them in the same container.

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Dress Up Your Stairs

Have stairs leading up to your home? Create a stair-step arrangement of planters filled with violas. You can use different styles and sizes of pots while repeating the same flower colors throughout the grouping to tie everything together.

It’s an easy way to turn an ordinary set of steps into a colorful fall display!

Photo Credit: Southern Living®

Have Fun with Succulents, Too!

Succulents can get in on the fall fun, too! Use pumpkins or pumpkin-inspired containers to create a seasonal succulent arrangement. Neutral shades can make the different colors, shapes, and textures of the succulents really stand out.

If you’re using a real pumpkin, consider placing succulents in or around it decoratively rather than relying on the pumpkin as a long-term planter. Succulents need excellent drainage and don’t appreciate sitting in wet soil.

Create Your Own Fall Combination

There’s no single right way to create a fall container. Mix colors, textures, heights, and seasonal favorites to create something that works with your own porch, patio, or landscape.

Just remember to group plants with similar light and moisture requirements and always use containers with good drainage. Then have fun with it—fall is a great time to play with color!