Plant a fall container with punch

Few plants speak better to the conventions of the classic fall arrangement than pumpkins, chrysanthemums and kale. And shades of burgundy, orange, brown and rust further attest to the lateness of the season. Yet this is not your typical outdoor display, for it boasts unusual varieties of these stalwarts, along with less commonly used plants.

Yes, there are pumpkins. But placing one—particularly the unusual French pumpkin—directly into the arrangement adds an immediate dramatic touch. Unique, too, is the use of an upright kale, strategically placed behind brilliantly coloured branches of ‘Flame’ willow. Also making a rare cameo is sedge, “an under­used filler,” says perennials expert Paul Zammit of Toronto’s Plant World.

While most of these specimens will look good until frost, the chrysanthemum and the ornamental pepper can be replaced with a small evergreen such as boxwood or cypress. For smaller spaces, this arrangement (shown here in a Duracraft Century Planter, 55 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide) can be scaled down by using dwarf plants.

Tips

Most successful container arrangements have an upright component (the “thriller”), a middle element (the “filler”) and a trailing feature (the “spiller”).

To keep the container looking fresh, water regularly and deadhead any spent blooms.

Site wherever you like because the seasonal period of this arrangement is short.

Shopping list, clockwise from top left:

• ‘Flame’ willow (Salix ‘Flame’) x 1
• ‘RedBore’ kale x 1
• Leatherleaf sedge (Carex buchananii) x 1 
• Ornamental pepper (Capsicum ‘Medusa’) x 1
• ‘Bressingham Ruby’ bergenia x 1
• ‘Peach Flambé’ coral bells (Heuchera ‘Peach Flambé’) x 2 
• English ivy (Hedera helix) x 1
• French pumpkin x 1
• Chrysanthemum x 1
• Hair sedge (Carex comans bronze-leafed form) x 1

Read more in Gardens and Container Gardening