Fall Plants Perfect for Pots

Asteraceae

These perennials add showy color to the garden and also attract bees and butterflies. They bloom in the late summer and fall months.

Clematis terniflora

Because this is a vigorous grower and easily self-sows, it’s a good idea to wrangle it into a pot to enjoy it—and contain it—through the fall months. It has beautiful, glossy, deep green leaves and bursts out with an abundance of fragrant white blooms in late summer and fall.

Begoniaceae

Most types of begonias, which are favorites because of their flowers and deep green foliage, bloom in summer and fall. Multiflora begonias have abundant fall flowers that come in a variety of shades.

Asteraceae

When fall arrives, Southerners know that it’s time for mums. They’re the classic fall container plant, and you’ll rarely find a porch without a pot of mums or two come October.

Colchicaceae

The plants known as colchiums are also called meadow saffron or autumn crocus. They produce elongated pink, lilac, and white cup-shaped flowers on tall stalks in summer and fall.

Asteraceae

Cosmos plants bloom in summer and fall. They bear flowers that resemble daisies and come in many colors—crimson, pink, chocolate brown, yellow, orange, and gold, for starters. They also attract pollinators.

Amaranthaceae

These long-blooming flowers offer garden color from summer through fall. They produce rounded flower heads in shades of purple, pink, magenta, red, yellow, and white. The plants themselves are drought tolerant, and many selections make great container plants.

Asteraceae

Also known as sneezeweed and Helen’s flower, helenium is a summer-and-fall bloomer that bears flowers with red, yellow, bronze, and copper petals surrounding dark centers. The flowers resemble daisies, and the plants themselves can reach heights of 3 feet tall.

Balsaminaceae

Many selections of impatiens bloom in fall and produce flowers in eye-catching, jewel-toned hues, including magenta, crimson, violet, pink, lilac, and white. They are great choices for container gardens as well as flower beds.

Asteraceae

Marigolds add a dose of cheery color to containers because they continue to bloom into the fall, when other annuals have finished producing flowers. French and African marigolds, particularly, produce an abundance of bright blooms.

Violaceae

Pansies and their relatives, violets and violas, are often treated as annuals; they’re enlisted to provide beds, containers, and borders with plenty of fall (and winter!) garden color.

Solanaceae

In warm climates, petunias can be grown as winter annuals. Plant them in containers in fall, and you’ll be able to enjoy them throughout the autumn and winter months.

Asteraceae

These beautiful bloomers produce bright flowers in shades of red, pink, coral, white, and yellow from spring through fall.

Also called firecracker flower, crossandra blooms from late August through early fall. It can withstand late-season heat waves with plenty of water. Leave it planted until the first frost. Here, we paired a spruce topiary with fiery ‘Orange Marmalade’ firecracker flower.

Sun-loving coneflowers show off throughout the summer and until the first frost. Deadheading spent blooms will prolong its growing season.

Add height to fall containers with Mexican bush sage, which blooms throughout the fall (in the Tropical South, it’ll grow until spring). This evergreen shrub produces tall, spiky purple flowers.

These cool-weather annuals perform well in containers and deliver leafy fall color. Give them moist, well-drained soil, and they’ll stay happy all season. (Ornamental cabbage shown in photo)

Spice up fall containers with ornamental peppers. Though not edible, these vibrant peppers will add a new variety of shape and texture to arrangements.