There are two faces of autumn. The first is flamboyant, with flaming orange pumpkins, calico Indian corn, and garish gourds. The other personality is mellow. Its spectrum moves toward gray-blue squash, alabaster pumpkins, and jewel-like asters. This palette of gentle colors reflects the softer side of the season.

Outdoor Style
Use different-size benches and stools nestled together as a setting for pumpkins and squash. Bushel baskets or an old wheelbarrow also make a good starting point. Look at farmers markets and roadside stands for intriguing squash and pumpkins in shades of gray, white, and putty. You'll find them in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. 'Hubbard' squash and hard-shelled winter selections are also good additions.

Let the largest item be the focal point, and cluster others around it, leaning some and stacking others. Use varying heights to give the arrangement depth. In addition to vegetables, use ornamental cabbage and kale. Their cool colors combine with the subtle palette already established. Place them in weathered clay pots, antique galvanized buckets, or wooden crates for an easygoing look.

Fall Flowers
The evening chill produces vibrant flower colors that capture the season's urgency. Asters in assorted shades of magenta, pink mums, royal purple beautyberries, and red celosia bring autumn to a memorable close. Gather them in a simple arrangement for indoors or out. Here, the color of an old galvanized sap bucket complements our bouquet. If you don't have a garden, check out your grocery store's floral department for bunches of asters and chrysanthemums. These blooming bunches are often seasonally available and reasonably priced.

Indoor Simplicity
A few beautiful elements artfully placed compose a striking seasonal collection with little effort. Choose small plants and miniature items to keep the scale appropriate for your container, and use an odd number of items, which is usually more visually pleasing than a pair.

Our arrangement begins with a weathered iron urn elevated on a marble stand. The container is filled with 4-inch pots of ornamental cabbage and kale. At the base, tiny white pumpkins mimic the creamy color in the cabbage leaves. Green Osage oranges, 'Red Strawberry' Indian corn, and cockscomb complete our harvest still life.

"Simple Seasonal Arrangements" is from the October 2002 issue of Southern Living.