Ladies and gentlemen, fall is upon us.
Or, as Oscar Wilde writes, “And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
And, while autumn doesn’t officially start until September 22nd, Mother Nature is already hinting that clear, tangible change will be here before we know it. In fact, in many cases, it has already arrived. From the cool, crisp nights to the shorter, windier days, to the slow yet steady color transition that’s already manifesting itself in the trees, one need not look far to recognize that that transformation has arrived.
Many love fall for the freshly picked apples, warm, cozy sweaters, and piping hot pumpkin spice lattes. And while I love the majority of those things[1], to me fall is about something bigger than sugary snacks and Instagram-worthy décor. Indeed, this season connotes a profound change, a stark transition, a time where the world slowly begins to deconstruct itself so that it can again, one day, resurrect and re-flourish with a profound vivacity and invigorated fervor.
Autumn allows us to embrace our rhythms and reconnect with nature in a very organic, immediate way. It is a season filled with the symbolism of flow and order, death and life, tremendous darkness and yet also brilliant, arresting light. Fall signals a period to pivot, a time to turn inward—to both begin to transition back indoors and also retreat within to examine the inner most corners of yourself. Fall is filled with golden hues and a series of little moments that work together behind the scenes to signal one thing: Change is most certainly and inevitably coming, and there’s nothing we can do but embrace it.
Autumn is filled with anticipation. We are hopeful of the good that is yet to come and weary of the rapidly dwindling days of summer. And yet, in a way, it’s also a time of truth and acceptance. As one unknown writer famously states, fall is a time when “the trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.” This sentiment is exquisite and freeing in a litany of unexpected ways. While we typically associate spring as the season of renewal and rebirth, fall—in its own way—invites us to wholly accept change and encourages us to let go of that which no longer serves us. Whether it’s bad habits, dead leaves, or old routines we’re simply looking to shake and remake, autumn welcomes us not only to indulge in the vivid changing colors of the season but to also see the world with a fresh pair of eyes and reconstruct our perspective of what’s truly possible.
Change is both beautiful and inevitable, and as the seasons shift and the days begin to darken, these transformations are immediately made visible in the garden. Suddenly, the soft pink peonies and shocking vivid dahlias of summer slowly give way to the muted mums and asymmetrical pumpkins of fall. The seasons begin to turn, signaling that we must take a deep breath, slow down, and find our own place amidst the landscape that is changing around us.
Being somewhat new to gardening, I thought I might celebrate this transition designing my very own fall container filled with a playful mixture of rich, seasonal goodies. True this idea was spurred by the slowly changing leaves, but—make no mistake—it was equally inspired by one of my new favorite places in Minnesota: Tonkadale.
Cooler temperatures are officially here to stay in Minnesota, and this west-metro garden center extraordinaire has begun to signal this shift by advertising the beauty, versatility, and creativity that comes with designing fall outdoor planters. Indeed, just last week Tonkadale came out with a YouTube video and various marketing materials urging gardeners to embrace the beauty of the changing seasons by mixing and matching annuals to create a fall container specifically personalized to you.
The criteria are simple:
- Start by picking your mums. Begin by selecting your preferred color of mums, and then build your design from there. Deciding to embrace the deep, rich hues of the season, I opted for “perfectly orange” and “poppin purple” maroon-colored mums. I can’t wait until they bloom and reveal their fantastic fall colors.
- Keep your design simple and streamlined, and plan your pot in terms of “chunks.” Include a chunk of mums, a chunk of grass, a chunk of ornamental kale, etc. The chunkier and more organic, the better: Nothing says fall like a little chaos.
- Be sure to add height and dimension. Get creative and use fountain grass, tall birch stems, or faux leaves to bring this verticality to life.
- Pack your materials in and position things close together. The truth is that these plants are only going to live outside for a relatively short period of time, so there’s no need to worry about excessive growth: Cram your containers full of seasonal goodies.
- Plan for the unexpected: Put a pumpkin in it[2]! Need a change of pace and a pop of color? Reach for a ghoulish gourd to add a textured, unexpected effect.
With these foundational design elements in mind, you’re now ready to pick your specific planting materials. Tonkadale (or any other gardening center, for that matter) offers a wide variety of options, and it is particularly exciting to mix and match seasonal assortments as you bring your own mini microcosm of fall to life. Consider the following seasonal staples:
Mums: As aforementioned, mums serve as fall staples. These flowers possess an almost magical quality. The phonetics of their name alone evoke a soft, warm, inviting quality you can’t help but associate with the richness of season. Notably, mums bloom in response to shortened days, and fall’s cool temperatures actually help them last longer: How cool is that[3]?
Kale/Flowering Cabbage: With its deep greens and royal purples, leafy kale adds an interesting, playful texture and color contrast as you design your fall arrangement. Opt for something full and robust or more wild and stringy: The choice is yours!
Sedum: Sedums respond to cooler temperatures by deepening in color. While they might seem fragile at first, they endure rough temperatures and can even take frost like a champ.
Grasses: Whether you opt for Toffee Twist or Leather-Leaf Sedge, ornamental grasses add an unexpected height, dimension, and “thrill factor” to your fall outdoor garden. Experiment by arranging your grasses upright for a more vertical effect, or drape your grasses horizontally for a surprising, untamed cascade.
Dusty Miller: This plant’s soft, white, fuzzy foliage is particularly striking: It instantly compliments anything it is paired with. Dusty Miller grows well in Minnesota from spring to fall and adds an energetic punch to any garden container.
For my arrangement, I started with my mums, opted for an Osaka Red flowering cabbage, added an element of pizzazz with Purple Fountain Grass, and capped it all off with the addition of a few playful pumpkins. I organized my picks in a round yet shallow terracotta pot and ran through a few different staging options before settling on the direction I wanted to run with. There was something inherently simple and yet unexpectedly thrilling about strolling through Tonkadale’s garden-filled aisles, carefully making my selections, and then unabashedly getting my hands dirty and running my fingers through the soil. This process connected me with the slow simplicities of nature in a very real way and encouraged me to take a step back and reflect on the inevitable change that suddenly surrounds me.
Fall possess a distinct quality that is simultaneously melancholy and urgent. All seasons move quickly, and yet autumn is particularly swift and abrupt, for one moment there exists a symphony of orange, yellow, and red leaves, and the next day we are left with a stark row of barren tress, blowing languidly in the wind. And yet there’s something particularly powerful and even liberating about this sense of urgency; if we can just convince ourselves to slow down and savor these changes as they happen, we might then bottle this magic and use it throughout the remainder of the year.
As Delia Owens writes in her bestselling novel Where the
Crawdads Sing, “Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their
only chance to soar.” This season moves
swiftly and is inevitably transient: One
day the opportunity—the beauty—is there, and the next day, it’s gone. Like the changing leaves, we can choose to fall,
or we can choose to fly. And,
while the window is brief, the season is rife with ample opportunity to stretch
our wings, embrace the change that surrounds us, and ultimately elect to soar.
[1] I’m just going to come out and say it: PSLs are gross. They are! You know it’s true. I realize this statement is controversial and might make me unpopular, and I’m fine with that. You are free to drink as many pumpkin spices lattes as your heart desires. Just please do us all a favor and don’t call them coffee, okay? Promise? Such a waste of a good cup of joe.
[2] See: Put a bird on it!
[3] Pun most certainly intended.
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