Fill a basket with a range of pumpkins and gourds from the market or pumpkin patch, and you will have everything you need to welcome autumn holidays with style. Afterward, when Thanksgiving rolls around, you can turn any edibles one of your decorations into sausage sandwiches, squash soups and casseroles, clearing the way for winter holidays ahead.
Get ideas for your patio or table with these simple ideas for pulling together the season’s finest natural colours.
Combine the last blush of roses with tiny pumpkins and candles on a table runner glowing with oranges and reds.
Hint: Create a makeshift runner by lining up placemats down the center of the table.
Even just two or three pumpkins on a table which you could see out a window can brighten an October afternoon. These volunteer pumpkins sprouted from mulch added into planting beds last spring. Free decor!
Hint: Return pumpkins into the planting bed this winter, which means you are going to have homegrown pumpkins to play again next fall.
Succulents are often at their best in autumn, when their cherry gold and magenta blooms play off harvest colours.
Hint: Anchor your arrangement using a characteristic plant or pumpkin which has an attention-grabbing shape or colour, like this Japanese red kuri squash. Don’t be concerned about symmetry; instead, equilibrium the center using a casual arrangement of smaller pumpkins, pomegranates and other seasonal fruits and flowers.
When it’s time to clean your table away, potted succulents such as echeveria and paddle plant (kalanchoe luciae) make amazing additions to a low-maintenance garden. Hosting a dinner party? Let children and friends pick a miniature pumpkin or baby succulent to take house.
A tasty edible pumpkin with the improbable title Long Island Cheese anchors an outdoor arrangement of fresh pomegranates and a burgundy-leafed liquid mulch branch.
So much the better if your Halloween cat joins the show.
Show us: Are you decorating with the simple splendor of fall?