Bring on the blazing colors. Fall is a time when many home landscapes are bright with rich hues in flowerbeds and piles of autumn leaves. Here are some tips for adding splashes of look-at-me color.
Grow a Spicy Array of Mums
Perhaps you've noticed a glorious abundance of chrysanthemums in garden centers, supermarkets and neighbors' yards. This is their bloom season -- a time when their deep green foliage heats up gardens with spicy colors. Mass single color groupings to command attention or plant a playful rainbow of blooms. You can expect up to six weeks of color if you purchase plants that are in bud but not yet in full bloom.
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| Via The Garden Glove |
Create Cornucopias of Container Plantings
Group potted plants along front entry walkways, steps and porches. In addition to mums, other fall bloomers include asters, marigolds, salvias, snapdragons and zinnias. Include unusual containers, such as small metal troughs, wheelbarrows and old birdbaths.
Decorate Doors with Wreaths & Garlands
You don't have to wait until the winter holidays to hang wreaths. Autumn wreath ideas are only limited to your imagination! Grapevine wreaths with mini pumpkins, apples, silk leaves in beautiful fall colors. The possibilities are endless! No time or not feeling that creative? No worries, simply check out your local craft store for ready-made garlands and wreaths.
Dress Up Pillars & Lawns with Corn Shocks
Farms and farmers markets sell bundles of cornstalks for dressing up front yards. Lovers of fall decoration often combine them with displays of straw bales, gourds and pumpkins (expect gnawing by small critters). If you still have cornstalks in your garden, Mental Floss shows how to assemble them into shocks.
Plant for the Future
Get into the spirit of the season by planting for autumns to come. Add trees such as maples, which provide shade in the summer and eye-popping foliage in autumn. Aside from passersby, songbirds appreciate the deep purple fruit of Beauty Berry. Like Beauty Berry, Smoke Bush may either be a tree or shrub. Smoke Bush offers spectacle from spring -- its plumes of tiny flowers are magnets for bees -- into fall when the foliage turns deep purples, reds and yellow-oranges depending on the type you select. In summer, the flowers look like puffs of pinkish smoke as they go to seed.
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