Fabulous Fall

All it took was a few falling leaves cutting down some of my dicey hosta leaves, the bulb shipment arriving and my orange Hannah mum breaking into bloom (header) for me to take on fall full steam.

The Sweet Autumn Clematis growing atop my pergola is only this glorious from my bedroom window.


It's time to bring a little real along with faux to the inside fall decor.

Faux sedum, gourds, pumpkins, nuts and birds in a vintage etched bowl.  The birds adapt to all seasonal themes.

The plumes of Miscanthus Udine soften the roughness of the woven basket, sedum and faux pumpkins and gourds.

Miscanthus Udine

Begins with tan pinkish plumes and then opens to soft fuzziness

This is a faux grass I bought at Hobby Lobby last year and it looks pretty realistic.

In past years, faux plants and vegetables were something I would never think of using.  By spring I had petrified pumpkins and gourds that were either rotting or turned into shakers.  The pumpkins, gourds, grasses and seasonal vegetables look so good now you would have to bite them to know they were not real.

The buffet is decked out with faux pumpkins, dried gourds and Indian corn.

My buddy the chipmunk is keeping watch on the fall clean up outside!

Annual Rudbeckia is one of my new fall favorites for containers.

The small cabbages I bought for $1.25 are getting bigger by the day.  I have to keep up with the slug bait.

Some pumpkins and gourds amongst the violas and cabbages.  Most of the faux decor is now coated for the weather and already have the spikes on them for anchoring into the soil,

Last year I used real gourds and small pumpkins and there were bites all over them at the end of the season.

I haven't put out any Halloween decorations yet, but I think I may put my large pumpkins out in front next week.

Dried Hydrangeas are wonderful for fall decor, Unique on the left, Limelight on the right.  They can also be spray painted for Holiday containers. 

A little bling for the coffee table in the living room, a great hand painted container with woven spheres, faux and dried gourds and a little sparkle.

Decorating Your Home And Garden For Fall

Many years ago, when summer was over I yanked all of my drooping flowers out of their containers and put out some Indian corn, cornstalks and pumpkins on my front porch.  The pumpkins were always eaten and tipped over, the corn was chewed to the bone and it looked pretty sad by Halloween.

The Reggie dog was quite perplexed by this huge arachnid on the railing going upstairs.  I am surprised that he did not go after it!  This one has no eyes, but did you know that some spiders do not have any eyes?

Halloween used to be my favorite holiday because even though I was working full time with two children I had the neighborhood party.  We rented movies from the library and I made food ahead of time for the freezer so that everything would be ready for the big day.

These are great, I don't want to light them because then they will be gone.  I believe I got these at Target a few years ago.

Faux is becoming much more real.  These are faux gourds, achilliea, pears, pumpkins and little birds.  The pumpkins, gourds and pears are from Pottery Barn all arranged in an antique etched container.

Decorations now are over the top, lights, mummies, ghosts ringing the trees,talking vampires and witches the lawn ornaments and the celebration goes on for over a month.  I have given up on the real pumpkins, so I use the type you buy at a craft store, sprayed with marine varnish, and some are ceramic.  The pumpkins and gourds look so real now, there is no reason not to decorate containers and window boxes.  Long picks can also be purchased to stick through the decorations and anchor in the soil.

Indoors I can use real pumpkins and gourds mixed with faux flowers.

Reggie hasn't found these spiders yet!

I went to my daughter-in-law and son's home and found these people on their front porch, drinking Starbucks!

Believe it or not, I found this spooky person at the front door!

How would you like to find this in your garden?

Don't be concerned about using faux with real.  My situation is squirrels, so my quest each year is to find pumpkins that look either very decorative or real.  Each year it has become easier to find gourds and pumpkins that mimic the real thing.  Another faux acceptable is grasses because the real thing will collapse and wilt in your containers.



Halloween is still a favorite (not the Trick-Or-Treating as my dog goes crazy) with a family party and optional costumes.

Halloween is the second biggest decorating holiday in the United States next to Christmas!