Fall decor: give your flowering containers a second life

In September, your potted summer plants may well start to show signs of fatigue: sporadic flowering, leggy stems, yellowing or dried-out foliage. Hold off on throwing everything in the compost! As long as some plants are still vigorous, you can give your floral arrangements a second life by giving them a makeover for the fall season.

With a few well-chosen accents, the addition of fresh potting soil and a bold colour palette, your containers and planters will transform into true seasonal works of art. We'll explain how to do it and give you some ideas to inspire you.

Step 1: Take inventory of your existing potted plants

Before pulling everything up, assess what deserves to be kept. Some summer plants can coexist very well with your new fall plants.

Keep them if they still look good:

• Hardy geraniums: they can withstand the first frosts.
• Ivy and other trailing plants: magnificent as cascading backdrops, these plants make perfect complements!
• Ornamental grasses: perfect for the season, they are at their peak. If you have chosen perennial varieties, before the arrival of cold weather, remove them from their containers and plant them in the ground. This will ensure their survival through the winter so you can reuse them season after season.
• Eucalyptus, which can be brought indoors at the end of the season or dried to make long-lasting bouquets.
• Annual plants that dry in place before freezing and retain their attractive appearance: dusty miller, statice, celosia, nigella, honesty (Lunaria annua) and Chinese lantern.
   

Remove without hesitation:

• Impatiens, petunias and other flowers that don't survive the first drop in temperature.
• Flowering plants that are sunburnt, bare or have become too stunted.
• All plants showing signs of disease or pests.

Tip: Perennial plants (patio peonies, miniature roses, gaura, lavender, etc.) that have finished flowering should also be lifted and planted directly in the ground to protect them from the cold and ensure their survival for the coming seasons. If you wait too long, their roots, less protected in a pot than in the ground, could freeze.

Step 2: Refreshing the potting soil, an essential step

The potting soil in a pot that has spent the entire summer in full sun is often depleted, compacted and leached by the end of the season, even if you added compost during the summer or fertilized the plants that were in it. Furthermore, it is not recommended to keep it from one year to the next, even if the idea might seem tempting at first.

Since the potting mix will nourish your new plantings until November and even longer in mild climates, it is important to renew it.

How to do it:

1. Remove the plants you want to replace from their pots.
2. Remove about 50% of the existing potting mix from your pot. If you can't access the bottom of the pot due to its size, be sure to replace the top layer with fresh, enriched potting mix specifically formulated for container gardening.
3. Amend the potting mix with high-quality compost or a soil-enhancing fertilizer like our Organic Fertilizer 7-3-3.
4. Check the drainage: In shallower pots, roots can sometimes clog the drainage holes. Clear them if necessary. Use our Potting Mix to ensure excellent drainage and promote healthy root growth.

Tip: If your container is small, it's best to replace all the potting soil to start fresh. Remove any plants you want to keep so you can replant them with the new ones. This will allow you to arrange them more freely!

Step 3: Choosing feature plants for fall

Here is a selection of plants that will instantly transform your pots into beautiful seasonal displays.

For their colours and flowering
 

For their texture and foliage
 

A few seasonal additions that add volume and personality:

• Small ornamental gourds or miniature pumpkins placed in or beside the container
• Branches of berries (mountain ash, snowberry, wintergreen) tucked into the arrangement
• Pine cones
• Driftwood branches
• Apples and pears (if there is no wildlife in the area!)
• Conifer or evergreen shrub branches
• Small LED candle lanterns or string lights
• Branches of artificial maple leaves

Find out how to determine the quantity of plants you need and how to arrange them for maximum effect in our other article.

Step 4: Create your fall identity with one of our 7 colour themes

At this time of year, garden centres offer a wonderful selection of fall plants, both perennials and annuals, that are at their peak. However, there’s nothing stopping us from taking inspiration from our own flower beds and incorporating plants from the garden into our containers.

Here are a few ideas for creating beautiful fall container arrangements. In these eye-catching combinations, flowering plants, ornamental grasses, conifers, evergreen plants and vines come together in surprising ways to bring renewed interest to the garden. Better yet, beyond seasonal colours, we’ve put together some unexpected combinations that are sure to turn heads.

Theme 1 — Fall classic

Combine burgundy chrysanthemums, bronze and gold heucheras, a pinkish-red ornamental cabbage, and orange celosia stems in a terracotta or dark wood pot to enhance the effect. In larger planters, branches can be added.

Theme 2 — Poetic

Opt for lilac asters, creamy white heather, a grass with metallic-toned foliage (bronze, copper, silver or gold) and olive-green sedge leaves. Add a few pine cones and a zinc or anthracite grey pot for a soothing Nordic ambiance.

Theme 3 — Warm

Bright and cheerful 
Opt for honey-yellow chrysanthemums, a golden pumpkin, a mint-green ornamental cabbage and caramel-coloured ornamental grasses. The contrast between the refreshing green and warm tones creates a beautifully elegant visual balance.

Theme 4 – Vibrant

Bright pinks take centre stage with dwarf asters, cyclamens and winter heath, complemented by bronze or purple heucheras. A few touches of orange or copper—miniature pumpkins or gourds, and copper-toned chrysanthemums—add a vibrant touch.

Theme 5 — Dramatic

Why not go for a dramatic arrangement? Try deep purple, burgundy or nearly black hellebores, dark-leaved heucheras, pink winter heath, along with conifers or evergreen shrubs in deep green hues.

Theme 6 — Romantic

Bluish ornamental grasses (fescue or blue oat grass) are paired with old rose hellebores and nigella seed pods, all complemented by dark or pearly white evergreen foliage, such as honesty.

Theme 7 — Monochrome

Always a winning choice for floral arrangements, monochromatic combinations featuring white and silver are sure to impress: dusty miller, white asters, blue and/or white pumpkins, baby’s-breath, honesty, white-variegated ivy and white-variegated fortune’s spindle.

Care tips to extend the life of your containers

By choosing the right plants and giving them proper care, your fall containers can even survive the first frosts. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy them for as long as possible—or at least until it’s time to replace them with your greenery pots!

• Water less frequently: cooler temperatures slow evaporation. Check the moisture level of the potting mix before watering.
• Continue fertilizing regularly with our Multi-Purpose Fertilizer 12-6-6 to support flowering and extend blooms as late into the season as possible.
• Remove spent flowers regularly to encourage new blooms on chrysanthemums and asters.
• Protect them from the first frosts: bring your containers indoors at night or cover them with frost cloth if nighttime temperatures suddenly drop.
• Before the really cold weather arrives, bring tender plants such as cyclamens indoors, and plant shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials in the ground to protect their roots from the cold and reuse them year after year.
• Save these for dried arrangements: Chinese lantern, nigella, statice, baby’s-breath and yarrow, as well as eucalyptus (cut the branches unless you want to repot it and grow it as a houseplant).

For a colourful fall

With a little creativity and a few simple steps, your tired-looking containers can be given a new lease on life and brighten up your outdoor spaces until the first snow. Fall isn’t the end of the gardening season—it’s simply an opportunity to explore new possibilities! Happy fall makeover!