As fall carries on, leaves are starting to turn vivid colors in the Piedmont Triad. Autumn hues make for lovely, seasonable flowers and plant arrangements. To transform your space for the season, decorate your front porch or steps with vibrant potted plants. Begin with a trip to your local nursery or home improvement store and ask for hardy plants that are appropriate for the seasonal changes ahead.

Pansies, cabbage, violas, and mums are delightful fall flowers that you can use to fill out your containers. Plants such as ornamental kale and sage will withstand fall temperatures and add beautiful texture to any container garden. Keep in mind that kale will grow quickly once planted, so it’s best to leave space around it. Dwarf variety asters will spill over pots to add depth, and snapdragons are great autumn plants to heighten your arrangements. Many herbs, including parsley, rosemary, and lavender, will grow in the fall and mild winter weather as well.

Click here to view more herbs for fall and winter.

Make your containers more interesting by including small pumpkins and miniature gourds. For more fall plants that will add color to your garden, click here. Choose containers that will enhance the color theme or stick with classics such as terracotta or black. Metal or wooden buckets and baskets can also liven up your container gardens. Additionally, try clustering different shapes and heights in threes or plant a single pot with a few different kinds of plants.

For some simple container garden tutorials that you can put together yourself, click here.

Here are two colorful autumn container garden ideas:

• Pile on the pumpkins and place potted mums into decorative containers. Mums come in several vibrant autumn colors and require little maintenance. By stacking pumpkins and mini gourds in and around the containers, you can create the perfect, easy fall arrangement!

• Create a fragrant fall hanging basket! Fill a hanging basket with high quality potting soil, pansies, marigolds, ornamental cabbage, and herbs. The herbs will provide both fragrance and utility, while the pansies, marigolds, and cabbage will boast the colors of the season! See more here.

Is there anything that The Sharpe Mortgage Team can do for you this week? If you’re interested in purchasing a home or refinancing your current home in Winston-Salem or the surrounding areas, give us a call! We can discuss your financial goals and discuss a loan program that might be right for you.