The landscape can seem empty of color as the seasons shifts from the hot, summer days to the cooler, fall days. There is still plenty of life in fall gardens. You can still maintain the beauty of your garden, attract pollinators and decorate your doorsteps. Many plants can be grown all year round to produce beautiful, fragrant flowers and eye-catching colors that brighten up your landscape until the first frost. You can find a wide range of fall flowers that you can plant in containers and pots to warm, enhance, or refresh your landscape.
Asters
Asters are a great choice for fall. Aster plants can be used as thriller plants, providing stunning color and unique texture to fall containers. They come in many species, including white, purple, blue and pink. The plants can withstand dry conditions well and can thrive in either full sun or partial shade.
varieties that can be grown in containers and pots
- ‘Grape Crush’
- “Snow Flurry White Heath”
- ‘Chatterbox’
Balloon flower
You can add the intrigue of the balloon flower to your fall garden landscape. Enjoy splashes in blue, white and pink as they burst from their balloon-like pods. Partially shade is best for balloon flowers. They’ll also attract bees and butterflies! Your fall garden can be productive even after the summer flowers have died.
Blanket Flower/Gaillardia
Gaillardia flowers, which are unscented, produce beautiful sunset-colored flowers well into the fall. They are great for fall pots and containers as they thrive in the colder months. These perennial beauties, also known as blanket flowers or blanket plants, attract a lot of pollinators to your garden. They even shelter beetles. These low-maintenance plants need very little water and require minimal care. They also have longer bloom times that will last right up to the first frost.
Calibrachoa (Million Bells)
You might consider adding a plant such as calibrachoa to the mix of fall flowers for containers and pots. These showy, compact flowers look like petunias. They come in many colors and varieties. This prolific bloomer starts its spectacular flowering in the summer and continues to bloom through the autumn months.
These calibrachoa varieties can be added to your fall container garden:
- ‘Superbells Morning Star’
- ‘Kabloom’
- ‘Superbells Pomegranate Punch’
Chrysanthemums
Commonly called “mums”, these are popular for a reason – they’re the best fall flowers to use in pots and containers! They are essential for your fall garden. These fall favorites are readily available at the beginning of summer. They can also be purchased as annuals at this time in colder areas. Mums look great in pots, and they require regular watering and pruning to ensure their blooms last longer.
Celosia
Your fall containers can produce featherlike plumes of color. Celosia can be grown in pots and containers, increasing height and visual interest. Big attractors of bees and butterflies, these help in the pollination and growth of our fall crops.
Heuchera
With their beautiful leaf textures and a wide range of colors, coral bells are a stunning choice for fall pots and containers. They are tolerant of shade, but they can thrive in sunnier areas in cooler climates.
These coral bell varieties are worth growing this fall.
- ‘Lime Marmalade’
- ‘Venus’
- ‘Can-Can’
Dahlias
Dahlias can be used for both in-ground and above-ground planting. Pots and containers are great for adding color and intrigue to your garden. For stunning blooms, plant dahlia tubers during the spring and fall. To overwinter the bulbs, you will need to either dig them up or store them in colder areas.
Liatris
The tall, colorful spikes of the Liatris flower will add color to your autumn flowering containers and pots. The late summer bloomer adds texture and rich hues of pinks and purples to fall pots. The vibrant flowering spikes will be sought out by pollinators such as butterflies and bees.
Pansies
Cooler temperatures in fall and spring are ideal for pansy flowers. Enjoy purple-faced flowers throughout the fall and winter, and at the end of summer. They will continue to bloom until the first frost of winter, then they will poke through the soil in the early spring.
Sedum/Stonecrop
Add this flowering succulent plant to your fall garden, and you won’t regret it! This show-stopper that is deer resistant grows in the summer, but blossoms in the fall to create a colorful display. Sedum is well-known for its reds, pinks, and rust-colored flowers. It can withstand drought and requires little maintenance.
You can plant sedum varieties in your fall container gardens
- ‘Sedum Dasyphyllum’
- ‘Sedum Lydium’
- ‘Sedum Spurium’
Calendula
You can either sow calendula seeds or transplant them to fall containers. Enjoy the bright blooms all through the summer and fall. Calendula is a great companion plant, also. This will encourage bees to return to the nectar-filled flowers and increase their numbers. The vibrant blooms fill up planters beautifully!
Marigolds
Marigold seeds can be sown directly or in pots. Marigolds come in a variety of colors, including yellows, reds, golds and oranges. Marigolds are fabulous companion plants, repel garden predators, and attract honeybees!
Sunflowers
Choose compact sunflower varieties and place them in fall planters for some container garden “wow factor”. Sunflowers, from deep golds to fiery oranges and muted yellows, brighten the landscape and bring joy. Birds, butterflies, and bees will all be delighted to see you often for food. After your sunflower blooms die off and produce seeds, you can save the seeds for next year or set them out to feed the birds!
Zinnias
Are you looking for reliable bloomers to fill your planter? Zinnias make great fall flowers for containers and pots. Zinnias with nectar are great for pollinators. They attract many pollinators and bloom from mid-summer to the end of autumn. You can keep them looking great from spring to summer by deadheading them often.
