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October 20, 2014 · 10 Comments

Here’s an Easy Fall Container Idea

How to

Fall container completed in less than 20 minutes.

Fall container completed in less than 20 minutes.

A week or so ago, while I visiting my daughter in Chicago, I happened upon a fun idea for a simple fall container. The container (shown below) was on display at the Morton Arboretum in suburban Chicago. The container itself was large, wide and made of terracotta. It was filled with an assortment of gourds and squashes. Simple, and very pretty.

The inspiration for my fall container

The inspiration for my fall container

I knew that was an idea I could easily replicate at home, and I had just the container to do it with. A couple of years ago, I bought a small, metal horse trough to use as a planter. I ended up making it into a small water feature this year, which I had emptied out a few weeks ago.

At the Northfield Farmers’ Market last Friday, I found an assortment of squashes. One of the sellers was also selling bouquets made of ornamental cabbage and kale. Cute! I bought one and decided to use it as an accent in the container. The kale and ornamental cabbages are basically cut flowers, so I needed to keep them in water. To set up the container and keep the squashes elevated, I flipped a couple of pots over and set them in the trough. Then I filled a couple of tall canning jars with water and placed one in the back of the container and one in the front.

Pots elevate the gourds and a jar of water keeps the kale fresh.

Pots elevate the gourds and a jar of water keeps the kale fresh.

I put the kale in the water jar in the back and three of the cabbage in the water jar in front. The squash were balanced on the upside down pots. It looked nice, but I had one more cabbage and a pumpkin left. I put the cabbage in another jar of water set inside a colorful container and set the pumpkin down in front of the trough. Voila! Instant fall container.

Once I had everything bought, putting the container together took less than 20 minutes.

I’ve tried a couple of fall container ideas before including planting a pumpkin here and here. What’s your favorite fall container idea?

Fall container in less than 20 minutes!

Love the texture in this arrangement.

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« Recipe: Easy Slow Roasted Tomatoes
From Container to Cookpot: A Squash Soup Story »

Comments

  1. Marion Wittenbreer says

    October 20, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    I like the idea of using squash instead of pumpkins which just get tossed out–unless they are pie pumpkins. I use squash and pie pumpkins, dry milkweed pods and colorful maple leaves in my window box right now. –A variation on this theme.

  2. Mary Schier says

    October 20, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Milkweed pods are beautiful! I plan to cook the squash before they freeze and change the container to a more holiday look.

  3. Leesa W. says

    October 20, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    Mary, this is a great idea – thanks for sharing! I’m going to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow 🙂

  4. commonweeder says

    October 21, 2014 at 9:50 am

    What a great container arrangement. I’m still trying to empty my summer containers and gave no thought to a fresh and original arrangement.

  5. Emma says

    November 20, 2014 at 5:10 am

    What can I say! Well done decoration! I love it! It looks so natural and vintage! I will definitely search for a container and I will make some decoration for my front door. Thanks for the fresh idea! Regards!

Trackbacks

  1. Easy Tips for Fall Garden DecorNotes from Northern Gardener says:
    October 27, 2015 at 6:25 am

    […] and fall plants in a container or on your porch. Our editor uses a metal horse trough container to display fall gourds and plants. Of, here’s the ultimate in simple fall decor — arrange some pumpkins and […]

  2. A Legacy in Trees – My Northern Garden says:
    June 19, 2017 at 5:39 am

    […] under-planted Kentucky coffeetree. Designed by Anthony Tyznik, former landscape architect at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago, the arboretum takes advantage of the rolling hills on which it is set.  Paths for […]

  3. From Container to Cookpot: A Squash Soup Story – My Northern Garden says:
    August 10, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    […] this fall, I bought three nice squash from the Northfield Farmers Market to use in a fall container. When the weather turned cold (and then nasty) a week or so ago, I brought the squash in to put […]

  4. A Legacy in Trees says:
    October 7, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    […] under-planted Kentucky coffeetree. Designed by Anthony Tyznik, former landscape architect at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago, the arboretum takes advantage of the rolling hills on which it is set.  Paths for […]

  5. Brenton Arboretum: A Legacy in Trees - My Northern Garden says:
    June 3, 2019 at 11:06 am

    […] under-planted Kentucky coffeetree. Designed by Anthony Tyznik, former landscape architect at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago, the arboretum takes advantage of the rolling hills on which it is set.  Paths […]

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