Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Cider donuts, pumpkins and plants

With the rich colors of the fall season, a visit to your local garden center makes it easy to add autumnal whimsy to your home's entryway, porch, patio or deck and seasonal touches indoors.

Piles of gourds and pumpkins along with corn stalks, hay bales and more are typically found at this time of year.

Ornamental grasses juxtaposed against textured orange and white pumpkins and colorful gourds, along with garden sculptures and paintings add seasonal interest.

Create containers of mini pumpkins and gourds. Try grouping by color for a monochromatic look that surprises when placed alongside a splash of vibrant mums.

Easy to grow herbs add color and a seasonal touch indoors and out.

Achillea Millefolium is a pretty yarrow that is a perfect "companion" plant in your garden with pink flowering heads that look wonderful when dried out and displayed in an arrangement or tucked in a wreath. Festoon your wreath with other dried herbs and leaves, berries, apples and  pine cones; the possibilities are endless as the acres of pumpkins, gourds and mums.

Beside picking up plants, pumpkins, apples and cider, many garden centers carry a wide array of specialty products. I confess to a secret addiction to crunchy, still warm-from-the-oven fresh baked apple cider donuts that can only be found this time of the year.

My annual pilgrimage to the temple of  apple heaven is rewarded with bags of apples, donuts, and apple and pumpkin butter that I share with friends and family. 

As you're meandering through corn mazes and enjoying haunted hayrides with your kids, don't forget to ask the garden center experts what shrubs, trees and bulbs are perfect for fall planting in your landscape. After the heat and drought many states experienced this year, cool weather is an ideal time to plant.


Share your favorite find at your local garden center along with your creative decorating tips. We'd love to see your images.
~Lynne
photos: Linvilla Orchard, GMG

1 comment:

Wedding Wine said...

Making a garden is really easy but making beautiful and colour full garden is very hard. I am telling my personal experience I have my own garden with vegetables and flowers and now I I’s really difficult to maintain because of my new job.