Fall Containers Extend Your Gardening Season

As the days get cooler and fall is in the air, start swapping out the summer annuals in your pots with fall colors and frost tolerant plants. Common container plants such as coleus and sweet potato vine will be wilted at the first frost. If you're wondering if a plant will work well in a fall container, check the growing zone. If it's labeled Zone 2-3, it should do well into the fall.

Mum's are the go-to plant for fall color, but there are many of other options for plants that will look good into the fall, including

-Potted perennials and small evergreens (many of which are on sale this time of year)

- Asters, Chrysanthemums, Ornamental Grasses

- Dwarf Arborvitae, Boxwood

-Frost tolerant annuals with colorful or interesting foliage

-Edible and vegetables - herbs, lettuce, chard, or kale

-Gourds or small pumpkins can dress up a pot

Just remember, plants won't be growing much with the cool temps, so plant your fall pots full. Keep watering if it doesn't rain, but you won’t need to water as often as you did during the heat of the summer. Think once or twice a week instead of every day or two!

Use Hardy Plants

Using perennials and small shrubs in fall planters is a fantastic way to reduce waste and create sustainable seasonal displays!

🌼 Mums can be a lovely in fall, but they not always the most sustainable option. Most varieties you can buy are treated as annuals in our region. For such a small window of enjoyment, commercially produced mums use a large amount of energy, fertilizers and pesticides to grow and maintain their appearance. Mums are also not a significant source of nectar or pollen for local pollinators.

Alternatives:

🌸Hardy Varieties: Some hardy mum varieties can survive winter in our region and can be planted in your garden when you put away fall displays.

🌸Overwinter: Proper care in a protected location and they may come back.

🌸Support Pollinators: Plant other fall-blooming perennials alongside mums to provide resources for pollinators.

🌸Native Alternatives: Other native fall-blooming plants can often be more sustainable choices and provide better ecological value.