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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!

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close up of caramel creme coreopsis

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!

fall garden flowers with sedum autumn joy, chrysanthemums and hostas and pansies

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…

close up of pansies, gourds, pumpkins and garden mums -9 Simple Fall Porch Decor Ideas
Fall vignette on the porch

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front entry hall christmas tree 2023

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.

close up of garden mums and celosia in copper window box with pumpkins -19 Plant for Fall Garden 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.

Container Garden for Fall with ornamental cabbage, celosia, millet and calamint in black urn
backyard zen garden in fall with round paving stones

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.

potting bench decorated for fall with garden mums and pumpkins -Why You Need a Potting Bench

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.

9 Simple Fall Front Porch Decor Ideas

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.

Close up of ornamental kale, creeping jenny, millet, calamint in Container Garden for Fall

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
close up of black urn with plants for fall garden that include millet, ornamental kale, pumpkins, celosia and mums
Fall Container Garden Idea

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
close up of copper window box filled with plants for fall gardenlike garden mums, celosia, pansies and 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
Whiskey barrell planted with plants for fall garden such as garden mums and pansies with a pumpkin
Fall garden in a whiskey barrel
Whiskey barrel planter with millet, garden mums, celosia, pansies, pumpkins -19 Easy-to-Find Plants for Fall Garden Containers

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.

close up of copper tub found thrifting with fall garden plants -How to Plant a Fall Garden in a Flea Market Find

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!

Close up of backyard garden shed with cut flower garden filled with fall garden flowers like sedum autumn joy, dahlias, pansies, asters and chrysanthemums - Plants for Fall Garden

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!

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preorder my book the bricks 'n blooms guide to a beautiful and easy care flower garden

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.

close up of caramel creme coreopsis

More Outdoor Planter Garden Design Ideas

plants for fall garden that include garden mums, sedum autumn joy, celosia and pansies

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.

Plants for fall garden that include asters, marigolds and sedum autumn joy

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!

fall container garden by Shiplap and Shells
Photo by Shiplap and Shells

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!

fall garden by life at bella terra

Chas Crazy Creations

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

Chas Crazy Creations
Photo by Chas Crazy Creations

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25 easy to find autumn flowers and plants for containers

Thank you so much for following along.

Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

Stacy Ling

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.

stacy ling cutting dahlias in her garden

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19 Easy-to-Find Plants for Fall Garden Containers

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13 Comments

  1. Hi Stacy – You must have cloned yourself when you were just a little girl. How in the world do you get sooooo much done.

    Everything is beautiful.

  2. Thank you so much for so many plants for the fall, and loved the mum tip about looking for closed blooms. I would love to have a longer growing season, those silly fluke snowstorms here wipe us out and then go back to 75 degrees.

    1. Thanks Chas! I can’t believe how early the snow starts there! So cool to see how different our regions are in the gardens! xo

  3. Pingback: October Gardening Update | Life at Bella Terra
  4. I’m loving it Stacy! You’ve done such a great job transitioning to fall. I love tucking pumpkins into my fall flowers too!