25 Easy-to-Find Autumn Flowers and Plants for Containers

Are you looking for some fun fall outdoor planter ideas? Here are 25 easy-to-find autumn flowers and plants for container gardens with design recipes.

Fall is in the air, and that means it’s time to refresh your outdoor living spaces with some beautiful autumnal container gardens.

Whether you have a small balcony, a front porch, or a sprawling garden, adding a touch of fall foliage can instantly elevate your outdoor decor.

The best part? You don’t need to be a gardening expert to create stunning fall containers.

Here are 25 easy-to-find plants that will make your fall containers pop with color and charm.

Wait until you see the plant combinations and looks you can pull together this fall!

(Posts on stacyling.com may contain affiliate links. Click HERE for full disclosure.)

It’s Looking and Feeling Like Fall

We had such amazing weather this week. The temperatures are starting to cool down. And I’m noticing some foliage changes in the gardens.

So it is almost time to pot up my fall garden containers.

There are lots of beautiful fall garden flowers and plants arriving at the nurseries now that just say…it’s fall.

Keep in mind that different nurseries will carry different stock, so you may want to visit a few to pull together the best plant combinations for your fall container gardens.

Here are some plants to look out for when you shop!

25 Easy-to-Find Autumn Flowers and Plants for Container Gardens

Through the years, I’ve made some fun containers for fall, so I’m going to share each recipe so you can easily make your own based on things you love and can find in your locality.

I’m often asked whether you should use annuals vs perennials in fall container gardens.

And the answer is…

You can use both!

Sometimes I’ll use perennials in my fall garden containers and then transplant them to the garden near the end of the season.

Or I’ll just leave them and move them in spring.

So don’t limit yourself to the few fall annuals you see at the garden nursery. Perennials can provide a lot of bang for your buck and do very well in containers.

In general, here’s a great list of autumn flowers and plants for the fall garden that are readily available and pretty easy to find.

• Pansies
• Ornamental Kale
• Ornamental Cabbage
• Millet
• Mums
• Celosia
• Huechera
• Asters
• Fountain grass
• Sedums
• Sedge
• Calamint
• Hot Peppers
• Euphorbia
• Creeping Jenny
• Small Grasses
• English Ivy
• Hens and Chicks
• Swiss Chard
• Salvia
• Russian Sage
• Dwarf Japanese Maples
• Calibrachoa
• Lavender
• Hakone Grass

In addition to these plants, if you can salvage any of your flowering annuals like marigolds, petunias, coleus, impatiens, etc….do it!

It’s one of the reasons I say to think about fall when you are purchasing spring annuals.

If they can do double duty as plants for fall garden containers, you’ll save some money at the garden nursery in fall when filling them.

My Favorite Fall Containers and Plant Combinations

After all these years of playing around with autumn flowers and plants, there have been a few container gardens and plants that are my favorites.

In general, I follows the thriller filler and spiller method of design for container gardens.

When I incorporate garden mums in my fall designs, there are a few things to keep in mind so you can get the most out of them.

It’s really important to remember that they don’t last long in the season, so plant them accordingly.

I buy mums later in the season and look for ones that have not opened yet so they last longer in my fall garden plantings.

And finally, since fall is such a short season, I stuff my containers as much as possible to make them look fuller.

Unlike spring into summer, you won’t get the same amount of growing time for plants to fill in so I stuff them in.

Keep in mind, different varieties are available in different growing regions so I’m providing you with a general container recipe.

Plants for Fall Garden Urns

A few years ago, I found these large beautiful kale and cabbage plants when I was ready to plant that looked incredible in my front porch planters.

You can get the recipe for this particular container garden design here.

I think I’m going to do my planters for this fall using this design depending on the plants I can find when I’m shopping.

Another year, I did something similar but couldn’t find any creeping jenny. I didn’t love the look as much because it needed something trailing over the edge of the urn.

And the kale wasn’t in as good a shape. But it was all that was available locally when I was shopping, so I went with it and it looked better as the season progressed.

Here are the autumn flowers and plants that I used.

• 1 Millet
• 1 Pansy
• 2 Celosia
• 2 Orange Mums
• 1 Ornamental Kale
• 1 White Boo Pumpkin

Plants for Fall Garden Window Boxes

I LOVE these beautiful copper window boxes that I added to shed makeover a few years ago. They looked so beautiful on our old garden shed and added so much detail, don’t they?

I haven’t found the right place to use them here yet. But I’ve got a few ideas. To jazz up the window boxes for autumn, these are the fall garden plants that I used:

• 1 Sedge
• 2 Purple Celosia
• 2 Orange Mums
• 2 Yellow Pansies
• 4 Ornamental Kale
• 1 Field Trip Pumpkin
• 2 White Boo Pumpkins

Fall Garden Whiskey Barrels

I have three of these old whiskey barrels in the backyard.

Aren’t they so cool?

I actually bought them in spring HERE and they add so much character to the backyard. If you are looking for something similar, I would get them.

The quality is amazing but heads up – they are super heavy without anything in it.

Here’s how I planted them:

• 1 Millet
• 2 Purple Celosia
• 1 Orange Celosia
• 1 Pink Mum
• 1 Orange Mum
• 2 Yellow Pansies
• 2 Ornamental Kale
• 1 Field Trip Pumpkin

Fall Gardening in a Thrift Store Find

In addition to my regular garden containers, this year I added a beautiful copper boiling pot that I flipped into a planter with fall garden flowers and plants.

You can find the coolest garden treasures at the flea market or thrift store.

So keep you eyes open for items that would make unique planting vessels.

I can’t wait to pot up some autumn flowers and plants this fall. Have you planted yours yet?

I hope you are inspired to make some gorgeous fall container designs for your home.

Thanks for dropping by

Happy Gardening!

More About Easy-to-Find Autumn Flowers and Plants for Containers

Do you have an autumn flower or plant that you love to use in your fall garden containers? I would love to know more in the comments below.

And don’t miss joining my Gardening DIY and Decorating Community on Facebook for more chatter. And follow along there and on Instagram as well. There are behind-the-scenes daily things that I share on Instagram that don’t make it to the blog. Would love to see you there too!

If you prefer to binge-watch Bricks ’n Blooms on TV, we go more in-depth with tours and posts on my YouTube channel. Would love to hang out with you there!

And… If you’re catching up on blog posts you may have missed, be sure to sign-up to get my newest posts via email to stay up to date with everything that’s happening here on the blog and more.

Garden Supplies I Use

I’m often asked about the garden supplies and tools that I use most. From pruners to deer repellents, here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

• I like to use a good-quality, potting soil, garden soil, compost, and perlite when planting. While I make my own compost, you can easily buy it ready-made for use.
• I have used this deer repellent with great success. But now, I’m all about this deer repellent that is systemic instead of topical. This means the plant takes it in as opposed to it just smelling bad.
• Hands down this is my favorite hand-weeding tool. You can use it to get underneath roots and loosen soil, and it cuts down on the weeding time because you work much faster.
• But I also love this long, stand-up weeding tool to really get around roses from afar.
• I use THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for roses because the blooms are more prolific and it’s organic.
• And I use this organic fertilizer for my vegetables and herbs in the potager garden.
• You’ll need a sharp set of pruners when working with plants and flowers. I buy a few so I can stash them around.
• I use these garden snips to deadhead and cut flowers from my gardens.
• Where pest and disease problems are concerned, if I need to, I generally use this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control infestations depending on the issue. When using, only apply when pollinators are less active.
• This is my favorite set-and-forget slow-release fertilizer for houseplants, annuals, and container gardens.
• Whenever I stake my peonies or other plants, I generally use these grow-through garden supports because they work really well and keep the blooms upright.

More Outdoor Planter Garden Design Ideas

• Container Garden for Fall
• Winter Garden Planter Ideas
• Budget-Friendly Winter Outdoor Planter Ideas
• How to Plant a Container Garden
• How to Plant a Window Box for Spring
• Spring Flowers Container Garden
• Outdoor Spring Planter Ideas for Sun

Come See What’s Happening in My Friends’ Gardens

I love to drop by and see what’s growing in my friends’ gardens across the nation.

Let’s pop in and see what’s happening in their gardens.

Shiplap and Shells

My good friend Kim from Shiplap and Shells shared some gorgeous fall plant ideas for container gardens.

And what’s interesting about Kim’s garden, is that we both experienced the same shortage in selection this year.

Hopefully, next year will be better!

Life at Bella Terra

My good friend Mary from Life at Bella Terra shares her October garden update in Arizona.

It is so cool to see how different our seasons are!

Chas Crazy Creations

And my good friend Chas from Chas Crazy Creations shares her tips for winterizing a garden in her Colorado climate.

Sign Me Up!

Sign up for my free newsletter to get blog posts, seasonal tips, recipes, and more delivered straight to your inbox!

Plus, get free VIP access to my Resource Library where you’ll find insider freebies not readily available to the public.

Thank you so much for following along.

Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

About Me

Want to learn more about me?

I’m a master gardener who’s been gardening and growing things for over 25 years. With a deep passion for gardening, I enjoy helping others find their inner green thumb with all things plants and flowers, as well as find ways to bring the outdoors inside their homes too.

Get the inside scoop about my background as a master gardener, education, and experience, as well as why I started blogging.

Let’s Connect!

If you like this post, please follow me @bricksnblooms on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Or join my Facebook Group.