
We had a wet summer here in Washington D.C. And before that we had a wet spring. While my roses and most of the bed plants loved it, my container plants not so much. To put it succinctly, they drowned. A year ago I found these wonderful modern concrete planters at Target. They were fantastic last year and I was so excited to bring them out again this spring. Alas, the beautiful arrangements I put together then have looked pretty sad for weeks now, to the point of embarrassing. I took a photo to document the situation.

I had kind of thought I would just put the planters on my front steps away for the year and replace them with pumpkins, but my friend Beth stopped by last night and she suggested I just spruce them up by keeping the creeping jenny (it LOVED the rain) and adding some pansies. So I went to Meadows Farms today, thinking I would do just that. But then, as always happens, I saw some amazing fall plants, and decided to do it properly. I filled my wagon with ornamental peppers, kale, cabbage, and pansies.

It took me about 30 minutes to spruce up all four of my planters. All I did was remove a little of the old soil, then insert my new plants. I trimmed the creeping jenny slightly, but I kind of like the wild look, so I left most of it. Then, in each of the containers (the square ones are 10 inches and the rectangle one at the top of the steps is 16×10 inches) I put one of the peppers, a kale or cabbage, and two small pansies.


I also found some heirloom pumpkins and gourds at the garden center, and used them to complete the fall arrangement. Hopefully the squirrels will let me keep these for at least a week or two this year. I love the way they turned out. Happy fall, y’all.

Shopping List: I bought my plants at my local garden center (Meadows Farms) but if you have the time, you can also grow from seed!
Gorgeous!!
Love the ornamental peppers! Your planters are definitely dressed for fall now.
I am impressed!! Very interesting and pretty!!!