10 Beautiful Plants to Refresh Your Porch Containers for Fall

By the time fall arrives, many of my summer containers are starting to look a little tired.

Fortunately, you don’t have to put the pots away just yet.

Fall is a great time to refresh your front porch with plants that appreciate cooler weather or bring rich seasonal color through flowers and foliage.

You can replace an entire summer container or simply swap out a few struggling plants.

Here are 10 beautiful choices for giving your porch containers a fresh fall look.

1. Chrysanthemums

It’s hard to imagine a fall porch without at least one mum.

Mums come in classic autumn shades like orange, yellow, bronze, burgundy, red, purple, and white. They also look beautiful beside pumpkins, gourds, and other fall decorations.

Place them where they’ll receive plenty of sunlight and keep an eye on the soil. Container-grown mums can dry out surprisingly quickly, especially when they’re covered in blooms.

Best for: Big bursts of traditional fall color

2. Pansies and Violas

If you want flowers that actually enjoy cooler temperatures, pansies and violas are hard to beat.

Their cheerful flowers come in purple, yellow, orange, blue, white, burgundy, and many combinations in between.

They’re especially useful around the edges of larger containers, where they can fill spaces around taller plants.

Because pansies and violas prefer cooler weather, they can continue flowering after many warm-season annuals begin to fade.

Best for: Long-lasting cool-weather color

3. Fall Asters

For something a little different from mums, try asters.

Their small, daisy-like flowers commonly appear in shades of purple, lavender, pink, blue, and white, making them an easy way to add cooler colors to a traditional fall display.

Look for compact varieties when you’re planting in containers.

Asters pair especially well with yellow mums, ornamental grasses, and pumpkins.

Best for: Purple and blue fall color

4. Ornamental Kale and Cabbage

These plants often become even more colorful as the weather gets cooler.

Ornamental kale and cabbage form bold rosettes in shades of green, white, pink, and purple. Unlike flowering plants, you aren’t depending on blooms to make the container colorful.

They’re especially useful as filler plants in larger pots.

Try placing one toward the center of a container and surrounding it with pansies or violas.

Best for: Bold foliage and cool-weather color

5. Coral Bells

Don’t overlook foliage when putting together fall containers.

Coral bells, or Heuchera, come in an impressive range of leaf colors, including burgundy, caramel, lime green, silver, purple, and nearly black.

The leaves provide interest even when nothing is blooming.

They can be especially useful on porches that receive some shade, although light needs vary depending on the variety and climate.

Best for: Colorful foliage and partly shaded porches

6. Dianthus

Dianthus is another cool-weather favorite that can bring plenty of color to fall containers.

The flowers are commonly pink, red, white, or combinations of those colors, and many varieties have a pleasant spicy fragrance.

Their compact size makes them easy to tuck into mixed pots alongside ornamental kale, pansies, or dusty miller.

Give them plenty of light and good drainage.

Best for: Compact flowers and mixed fall containers

7. Snapdragons

Snapdragons thrive in cooler weather, making them a great choice for refreshing containers in fall.

Their upright flower spikes are especially useful for adding height above lower-growing plants such as pansies, violas, and ornamental foliage.

You’ll find them in shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, white, and more.

For containers, shorter or medium-height varieties are usually easier to work with than very tall types.

Best for: Adding height and flowers

8. Dusty Miller

Sometimes one simple foliage plant makes all the other colors stand out.

Dusty miller’s soft, silvery leaves contrast beautifully with purple pansies, burgundy mums, ornamental kale, and other rich fall colors.

It doesn’t need to be the star of the container.

Instead, use it to break up darker colors and add a completely different texture.

Best for: Silver foliage and contrast

9. ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss Chard

This one might surprise you.

‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard isn’t only useful in the vegetable garden. It can also be a striking addition to fall containers.

Its glossy leaves sit on colorful stems that may be yellow, orange, pink, red, or white.

Because Swiss chard enjoys cooler weather, it can add both color and texture as summer plants begin to fade.

If you plan to harvest the leaves, make sure the plants have been grown and treated as edible plants rather than purely ornamentals.

Best for: Colorful stems, texture, and edible containers

10. Ornamental Grasses

If your fall containers are looking a little flat, they may simply need something taller.

Ornamental grasses add height, texture, and movement without competing with your flowering plants.

Their arching foliage and seed heads also pair beautifully with pumpkins, gourds, mums, and other fall decorations.

Choose a variety that suits the size of your container, since some ornamental grasses can become quite large.

Best for: Height, texture, and movement

An Easy Fall Container Combination

You don’t need ten different plants in one pot.

A simple way to create a balanced container is to combine plants with different heights, shapes, and textures.

For example:

• Tall plant: Snapdragon or ornamental grass
• Middle layer: Mum, ornamental kale, coral bells, or dianthus
• Lower edge: Pansies or violas

You can also keep any healthy plants left from your summer containers and simply replace the tired ones with a few fall favorites.

A Few Fall Container Care Tips

As temperatures cool, your containers may not need water as frequently as they did during summer.

Instead of watering on a fixed schedule, check the soil first. Water when the upper portion begins to feel dry, and make sure excess water can drain freely from the bottom of the pot.

Keep in mind that plants also grow more slowly in cooler weather. When creating a new fall container, it often helps to start with a slightly fuller arrangement instead of waiting for small plants to fill the pot.

Also pay attention to your local frost dates. Some of these plants tolerate cool weather better than others, but container roots are more exposed to cold temperatures than plants growing in the ground.

With just a few simple changes, those tired summer planters can become one of the prettiest parts of your fall front porch.

Quick Guide to Fall Porch Container Plants

Light and cold tolerance can vary by variety and local climate.