Fall Colors

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Ok, so I loooove colors.  And, I looooove fall.  I think I've mentioned before that I do landscape design...and, although there are a million things that go into designing a landscape...after I know what the sun, soil, size requirements are, I go after color.  I'm not going to make this post about design, however, because that can be a whole blog on it's own...not just a post.  This past weekend I put together a couple of fall displays, mums being the main focus...but, there were other plants I added in to bring out all of the fall colors and feelings that I love! :0)

Burgundys, burnt oranges, bronze reds, and greens.

 

 What I love about the display above is the ability to see fall in all of it...not just the colors.  Mums, pumpkins, ornamental cabbages, browning grasses are all symbols of autumn on their own.  Wouldn't seeing something like that outside of your house make you want to have a big sweater on and know when you enter your house there's a nice hot apple cider waiting for you?!  I know that's what I think about when I see it.

Basically what I did was take a wooden, stand-alone tiers or stairs...and, just filled it up.  I put the mums out first, since they were the biggest.  I picked the colors I wanted to start with, I think I chose about three or four.  You don't want much too more than that, unless the colors are in the same family, otherwise it looks too hodge podgey. Ok, so you have your mums in place, and now a lot of holes.  That's when you take the small grasses, pumpkins, and/or cabbages to fill in.  The great thing about the mums and grasses is that you can always plant them after your display is spent.  The cabbage can be put in a pot (not the cooking kind), and will last basically all winter. 

 

Now, check out the purple and yellow one...after I did that one, I was thinking, 'you know what, if I had done that with the purple and orange mums that would have been a pretty bad a$$ display for Halloween'...paying homage to Halloween, but without all the gore.  With that being said though...I still like the purple and yellow together.  The yellow is such a great pop, on what is normally a very muted color palette.  A muted color palette that includes some of my favorites...chocolate brown, burgundy, burnt orange...I could go on and on.

 

Ok, for those of you that were paying attention..and, didn't know...yes mums are hardy enough to plant (well, at least in zone 7 where I am).  So, please don't think they're a complete waste of money.  I must say though, they can be a big pain in the butt to maintain once planted...making sure you pinch and cut back at just the right time to avoid them blooming at the wrong time.  And, the ornamental cabbage I was talking about can maybe be planted in a pot or in the ground and will work all winter.  One thing with the cabbage you will notice is that the bottom leaves are the ones that die and need to be ripped off, leaving you with a stem and more cabbage grown on top.  To get rid of this, just keep pushing the cabbage down into the ground/dirt. You can keep pushing and pushing until it's just the top of the cabbage again. ahhhh.  Ok...that was a lot of typing and I'm running late for work now.  So, please comment with any questions...that is if you even read this far. ;0) If not, hopefully you'll read all of my next post...or, maybe I won't make it so long. ha ha