Fall Annuals: Bringing Color, Texture & Life to the Garden

Fall might be my favorite season in the garden.

Maybe it’s the colors. Fall flowers seem to turn up the volume with deep jewel tones, warm oranges, rich reds, golden yellows and unexpected shades of blush, white and purple. Maybe it’s the feeling that we’re getting one last chance to make a statement before the season comes to an end.

A fall garden or container can be one of the most striking displays of the entire year. You can make bold, sweeping statements by filling a garden bed with masses of seasonal color, or create a simple moment of impact by placing two beautiful fall containers beside your front door and drawing the eye straight to your doorstep.

And unlike spring, when everything is just beginning, fall arrives with a garden that already has a story.

Your trees are changing. Your perennials are reaching their final blooms. Grasses are moving in the breeze. And fall annuals give you the opportunity to layer in one last burst of color, texture and life before winter.

At Berns, we grow and carry a wide variety of plants that are made for this moment in the garden, from mums to delicate asters, bright marigolds, trailing petchoas, cheerful pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, and the unexpected texture of celosia.

Whether you're refreshing a tired summer container, filling gaps in the garden or completely reimagining your front porch for fall, these plants give you one more opportunity to play with color and design.

Mums: The Classic Fall Flower

It wouldn't be fall without mums.

Mums are the quintessential fall annual, and for good reason. Their abundant blooms create an instant burst of seasonal color, whether you choose traditional oranges, yellows and reds or something a little softer and unexpected.

We grow our mums right here at Berns, and we love how much variety they offer. You can create a bold, colorful combination by mixing several shades together, or keep things elegant by planting one color en masse.

Mums also make wonderful container plants. Place a large mum in a decorative pot by your front door, group several together on your porch or use them to add a final layer of color to an established garden bed.

And don't be afraid to look beyond the traditional fall palette. White, blush, salmon, pink and purple mums can create a completely different feeling while still feeling perfectly at home in autumn.

Asters: A Late-Season Favorite

If you're looking for something that brings a little more of a natural, meadow-like feeling to your fall garden, don't overlook asters.

Their daisy-like flowers add a beautiful softness to fall plantings, and they're especially valuable at a time when many other plants are beginning to wind down.

Asters are also beloved by pollinators, making them a wonderful choice when you're thinking about more than just color. They provide an important late-season food source while adding plenty of flowers for us to enjoy, too.

There is also a great chance your aster comes back next year making it one of those annuals that gives you a little more bang for your buck!

Marigolds: A Little More Summer in Your Fall Garden

Marigolds may be associated with summer, but their warm golden and orange flowers fit beautifully into a fall garden.

They're a great choice when you want to carry some of that summer color forward while beginning to transition toward autumn.

Use marigolds with mums and ornamental grasses for a warm, traditional fall combination, or let their bright blooms stand out against darker foliage.

Sometimes the best fall gardens aren't entirely different from what you had in summer. They're simply an evolution of it. 

Petchoas and Petunias: Keep the Color Going

A cross between petunias and calibrachoas, petchoas bring abundant flowers and a trailing habit that makes them especially useful in containers. And everyone loves this dramatic, almost black petunia. 

Petunias and petchoas are perfect for softening the edges of pots and hanging baskets, where their blooms can spill over the sides and add movement.

We love using them when designing fall containers because they help bridge the gap between summer and autumn. Pair them with mums, grasses, ornamental foliage or other fall favorites and you can create a container that feels abundant rather than strictly seasonal. They also work well along the edge of your garden beds between cabbage and pansies. 

Pansies: Small Flowers, Big Personality

Pansies are one of our favorite ways to add charm to the fall garden.

Their flowers may be smaller than a mum, but they make up for it with personality. From deep purples and velvety reds to bright yellows and softer pastels, pansies offer an incredible range of color.

They're especially useful for containers and smaller spaces because they can be tucked into almost any planting.

And don't underestimate their ability to make a combination feel finished. A few pansies planted around a larger thriller or tucked between other plants can provide those little moments of color that make a container feel thoughtfully designed.

Cabbage & Kale: Foliage That Steals the Show

Not every fall annual needs to flower.

Ornamental cabbage and kale bring incredible foliage, texture and structure to fall plantings. Their cool-season colors and architectural forms make them some of our favorite plants for containers and garden beds.

Think of them as the foliage layer in your fall design.

The ruffled leaves of kale and broad, sculptural forms of ornamental cabbage create contrast against flowers and grasses. They can also hold their own as a statement planting.

And because they're foliage-focused, they give you something different from the constant repetition of blooms.

Celosia: Texture With a Little Drama

Celosia is for anyone who likes a little drama.

Its unusual flowers add texture and shape that you don't get from traditional fall flowers, making it a wonderful plant for containers and combinations that need something unexpected.

Use celosia when you want to break up a planting full of rounded flowers. Its distinctive form creates contrast and gives the eye somewhere to land.

Designing With Fall Annuals

Photo courtesy of Berns Personal Gardener Program

The best fall containers and garden beds aren't simply collections of fall plants.

They're compositions.

When you're designing, think about the same principles you would use in any other season: height, texture, color, repetition and contrast.

For your container, start with a plant that gives you height or drama. This might be a tall grass, millet or another upright plant.

Then add your supporting plants. Mums, asters, celosia and other flowering plants can provide the color and fullness.

Finally, add something that spills, trails or fills in the spaces between. Petchoas and pansies are wonderful for this.

But don't stop at flowers.

Foliage can be just as important as bloom. Ornamental kale and cabbage can add shape and texture, while grasses can bring movement. Mixing foliage with flowers makes a planting feel more layered and sophisticated.

For your garden design, simply choose five to seven different fall annuals and put them on repeat throughout your beds. If you have large, long beds, consider drifts or groupings of annuals to maximize impact. Also, play around with mum size. Include 9" mums towards the back or middle of your bed and use smaller mums towards the edge with cabbage and pansies. This creates a layered bed full of color and depth. 

Think Beyond the Traditional Fall Palette

Fall doesn't have to mean orange, red and yellow.

Those colors are beautiful, but they're only the beginning.

Try combining soft white with blush and peach. Pair deep purple with burgundy. Use bright yellow as a contrast against darker foliage. Or create a monochromatic container using several shades of the same color. Our favorite new varieties of mums we grew this year include Bridal White and Blushing Carousel Salmon. Bridal White is the whitest mum you can get and including it in your garden will make all your other chosen colors pop like crazy! Meanwhile, Blushing Salmon has soft, peach undertones that bring sophistication and elegance to a design. 

Fall Is a Season Worth Planting For

One of the beautiful things about gardening is that it never really stays the same.

Spring has its awakening. Summer brings abundance. Fall gives us color, texture and a final opportunity to celebrate the garden before winter arrives.

Fall annuals help us lean into that transition rather than rushing past it.

So bring home the mums. Try an aster. Add a few pansies. Experiment with ornamental kale. Find a celosia that makes you stop and look twice.

Whether you're refreshing a single container or reimagining your entire front garden, fall is an opportunity to create something beautiful for the season you're in.

Come see what's growing at Berns and let us help you make your garden feel like fall.