17 Beautiful Thanksgiving Planter and Container Ideas

When the cool weather rolls into town, our gardens begin to settle in for the winter. This is a great opportunity to add color to your landscape with containers! This is the season of gathering, so what better time to spruce up your front steps? Here, we’ll explore plants that will stand out and attract attention in your Thanksgiving containers and planters.

Refreshing or restarting your containers from scratch does not need to be stressful. Making a plan before you head to the store is always helpful. The plants in this list will tolerate some lightly chilly temperatures and will bring the fall vibes to your porch.

When you are planting Thanksgiving containers, choose plants that you love and fit with your home’s style and aesthetic. Use the ideas in this article to help inspire you and guide you while shopping!

Ornamental Pepper ‘Medusa’

	botanical name Capsicum annuum ‘Medusa’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 6-8 inches
	hardiness zones 10-11

Consider giving your cornucopia planter the look of being a true “horn of plenty” by adding ornamental peppers. These peppers are brightly colored and very attractive. The ‘Medusa’ variety combines red and yellow peppers with green leaves.

If you are seeking something a bit different, there are ornamental peppers with deep purple peppers and foliage. 

Beautiful cornucopia companions:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Flowering Kale	Brassica oleracea
Snapdragon	Antirrhinum majus
Winter Squash	Cucurbita pepo

Cottage Cabbage

Ornamental cabbage plants are abundant at garden centers in the fall. These plants are beautiful and long-lasting. 

Mixing up a few other whimsical plants with your ornamental cabbage can give your front steps a sweet cottage feel. This is a great way to add some cold-tolerant plants to your containers if you are not a fan of mums or if you just want something a bit different for your containers. 

You can find ornamental cabbage in hues of green, purple, or white. Choose whichever color catches your eye. Ornamental cabbage is also pretty planted in its own Thanksgiving container. Cluster a few pots together for a fun play with color and texture. 

Companion plant ideas:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Dichondra	Dichondra argentea
Purple Fountain Grass	Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’
Sweet Alyssum	Lobularia spp.

Edible Beauty 

Autumn is a great time to grow some cool-season vegetables. Why not have those veggies work double time and use them in an ornamental container for Thanksgiving, too?

These containers will contribute a farmhouse appeal to any sunny porch while also being ready for snipping and harvesting when needed. Cluster a few pots together, or combine a few edible beauties in one larger pot!

Try ‘Celebration’ Swiss chard. The rainbow of stems is the real show-stopper with this plant. Of course, it makes delicious additions to sauteed vegetables or salads. The brightly colored stems make a surprising splash in containers or window boxes.

Other edible ideas:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Beets	Beta vulgaris
Mustard Greens	Brassica juncea
Pansy	Viola tricolor var. hortensis

Fall Foliage 

When we think of fall, we typically picture the changing colors of the leaves. This makes a colorful container of fall foliage a perfect choice, especially if you live in an area where you do not see the autumnal changing. 

You could use any plant whose foliage you love. This could mean perennials, annuals, or a combination of the two. Look for bright red, yellow, and orange colors for a truly autumnal look. 

Coleus is a great plant grown primarily for its foliage, although it does produce spikey purple flowers. ‘Fishnet Stockings’ is a good choice for autumn pots because it has a medium splash of green with deep purple accents. Choose a coleus that has the right color combination for you. There are many orange and yellow varieties on the market, such as ‘Freckles.’ 

More plants with pretty leaves:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Coral Bells	Heuchera spp.
Sweet potato vine	Ipomoea batatas
Umbrella grass ‘Baby Tut’	Cyperus involucratus

Feed the Bees

Many of us gardeners focus on pollinator gardens in the spring and summer. Don’t forget the bees in the fall, though! They are wrapping up their feeding season and still need our flowers to help them. 

Many plants that we grow in our perennial gardens during warmer months can also be grown in containers. These perennials can be treated as annuals, or you can plant them in your gardens before the garden freezes.

I like to use black-eyed Susans in my fall containers. They transplant easily, and their yellow and brown flowers are the perfect fall color combination.  Deadhead any spent flowers to help encourage more blooms.

Combine this perennial with other perennials, or plant them in containers on their own. Either way, you will be pleased with how many bees you will find buzzing through your containers. 

More pollinator-friendly plants:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Beebalm	Monarda spp.
Coneflower	Echinacea spp.
Butterfly Weed	Asclepias tuberosa

Golden Goodness

Shades of yellow and orange combine to give you the ultimate fall container. When you plant these shades together, it provides the best, brightest hues of summer up to the first frost and beyond.

Select yellow or orange flowers and some yellow grasses for textural interest. Combine your plants into one large container, or cluster a few pots together for the same visual impact. 

Sunflowers are beautiful autumn flowers. Their yellow, sunny faces are beloved by all ages and make stunning container plants! You can start these flowers by seed or purchase nursery starts from your local garden center. 

Combine sunflowers with lower-growing plants to create a lush container. 

Common Name	Scientific Name
California Poppy	Eschscholzia californica
Pot Marigold	Calendula officinalis
Zinnia	Zinnia elegans

Hanging Harvest 

Hanging baskets never go out of style. If you are willing to swap plants out, they can be an attractive addition to your home from spring through the winter. 

Fall doesn’t mean you have to nix your flowering annuals, either. Keep what looks good, or replace everything with flowering annuals in autumnal hues of orange, purple, yellow, or whatever suits your decor. 

I like verbena for hanging baskets because it has a nice mounded growth habit, but it also trails out of baskets perfectly. ‘Peachy Keen’ mixes shades of peach and orange and is perfect for fall. 

Verbena is attractive by itself but also blends very nicely with other flowering annuals or annual grasses. As always, choose a color combination that works for your home and choose plants that you love. 

Common Name	Scientific Name
Nasturtium	Tropaeolum majus
Petunia	Petunia spp.
‘Toffee Twist’ Carex	Carex flagellifera ‘Toffee Twist’

Herb Mix 

While designing your Thanksgiving containers, remember that these planters can be beautiful and useful, too. 

Create a planter mixing herbs that your family uses or that you know you will be using while cooking your holiday meals. These planters can live on your deck or can be brought indoors to live near a sunny window. 

Sage is a very common herb in Thanksgiving dishes. Its soft texture and beautiful silver-green color make this herb an excellent choice for a container. 

Pair sage with other herbs, or select a few flowering annuals you love. Sage pairs nicely with most colors of flowers and has a nice upright growth habit, making it a good choice for a shorter thriller. 

Other useful Thanksgiving herbs:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Parsley	Petroselinum crispum
Rosemary	Rosmarinus officinalis
Thyme	Thymus vulgaris

Mums the Word 

Nothing says “fall” more than garden mums. These plants come in a variety of colors, making it easy to blend them into your garden’s color scheme or to create a jewel-toned rainbow of mums.

Mums are beautiful in a pot on their own but are easily jazzed up a bit by adding a few plants. For an extra pop of color, choose blue containers for your mums. 

The garden mum. Who doesn’t love them? These mounded plants are an autumn staple, growing to about two feet tall. You can often find mums in different sizes, making them great choices for large containers or narrow window boxes. Mix and match colors, or choose one color for a simple yet stunning monochromatic look. 

Great companion plants for mums:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Licorice Plant	Helichrysum thianschanicum ‘Icicle’
Pearl Millet	Pennisetum glaucum
Ornamental Cabbage	Brassica oleracea var. acephala

Neutral is Nice 

Often, fall is filled with bold colors, but that isn’t for everyone. There are many beautiful neutral colors that you can combine to create a monochromatic container. 

Start with using light green or white plants and add depth to the container by selecting plants with different textures. Finish it by tucking in a few mini white pumpkins for muted fall flair. 

Mexican snowball is a very popular succulent. It grows beautifully in containers and, in this case, makes a surprisingly gorgeous addition to a mixed autumn container. 

When these plants are done decorating your front porch, bring them in and add them to your houseplant collection!

White or light-colored plants to accent your succulents:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Dusty Miller	Jacobaea maritima
Ice Plant	Lampranthus deltoides
Mini White Pumpkin	Cucurbita pepo

Pumpkin Pot 

This is a fun way to reuse pumpkins you have leftover from Halloween, or go out and get a fresh one! Carve a hole in the top and hollow the pumpkin out, removing all the seeds and as much of the pumpkin meat as possible. Drill a few holes in the bottom of the pumpkin using a hand drill for drainage. 

Fill your pumpkin with potting soil and select flowering or foliage plants to plant in your brand new and very eco-friendly pot! Pumpkin pots look best with a singular plant growing in them. Cluster a few pumpkin pots together to add more dimension and texture.

A mum is the perfect choice for a pumpkin planter. The flowers are colorful and quintessentially autumnal. The mum’s mounded shape also compliments the pumpkin’s shape very nicely. 

Additional Ideas: 

Common Name	Scientific Name
Aster	Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Marigold	Tagetes spp.
Stonecrop	Sedum spp.

Pumpkin Pillar 

If your mixed containers are still in good shape after the summer, installing a pumpkin pillar is a great way to save some of your plants and money. 

Select a few pumpkins of your choosing. Flatter pumpkins, such as Cinderella pumpkins, work a little better. Leave your spillers in place of your containers and stack the pumpkins right on top of the soil. 

Companion plants:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Ivy	Hedera spp.
Sweet Potato Vine	Ipomoea batatas
Lady Fern	Athyrium filix-femina

Perfect Pansies 

When you think of fall, pansies might not be the first plant that comes to mind. However, they grow as lovely in the cool autumn weather as in the spring!

If you have grown pansies in containers, you already know how nicely they pair with almost any other plant. Choose plants you love, or plant them on their own!

Pansies grow best in cool weather. We often associate these happy flowers with the springtime, but they are just as lovely in the autumn. If you have planted pansies in the spring, carry them over into fall by keeping them in a shady garden space in the warm summer months. 

Pansy pals:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Angel Wings	Senecio candicans
Fiber Optic Grass	Isolepis cernua
Vinca (Greater Periwinkle)	Vinca major

Use Dried Flowers 

Often, our containers only need a bit of sprucing up or trimming to make it through the fall. This is a great time to snip some dried flowers from your garden and add them to your pots to breathe new life into them. 

Pair your dried flowers with any plants you wish, or think about snipping evergreen branches to accentuate the beauty of your dried flowers. 

Dried hydrangea blooms are perfect for fall arrangements. Allowing your hydrangea blossoms to dry naturally on the shrub can benefit you in a few ways. Firstly, you can snip them once dry and stick them into the soil of your container, adding instant autumnal color to your pots. Secondly, you can enjoy the flowers on the shrub all winter. 

Other notable dried flowers:

Common Name
Cock’s Comb	Celosia spp.
Globe Amaranth	Gomphrena globosa
Globe Thistle	Echinops spp.

Vertical Veggies 

Vertical planters can be a game changer if you are short on space. All summer, you can fill these tall planters with flowers, fruits, herbs, or vegetables. But don’t rush to put it away once the fall rolls in! 

Vertical planters are made up of multiple tiers. Each tier is stacked on top of the next. There is plenty of soil for root vegetables such as beets. The top tier is the perfect spot for taller or wider plants. 

Beets are excellent cool-season vegetables that also provide vibrant colors to your garden. The ribs of the leaves and stems are typically a deep and glowing red, depending on which variety you have selected. 

Combine beets with flowers or other cool-season vegetables for the perfect fall edible garden. 

Great vegetables to plant in the fall: 

Common Name	Scientific Name
Garlic	Allium sativum
Kale	Brassica oleracea
Spinach	Spinacia oleracea

Wintery Window Boxes

No one likes to jump from Halloween right into winter, but sometimes it makes sense. When it comes to winter containers, there are a lot of options. 

Plants can be planted in containers and overwintered in a garden shed. Another option is to snip stems of pines or holly and stick them into the soil. Arrange them nicely and add some berries, or possibly mums, and you’ve set yourself up for a winter of green beauty. 

Heath is a pretty evergreen flowering perennial for holiday planters. The foliage is fernlike, and the flowers are spiked and are found in shades of pink, purple, and white. 

Adding heath to a container or window box is charming. They can stay petite enough for mixed containers but are also beautiful enough to be the star of the show. 

Some more evergreen beauties: 

Common Name	Scientific Name
Dwarf Alberta spruce	Picea glauca ‘Conica’
Dwarf Globe Japanese Cedar	Cryptomeria japonica ‘Globosa Nana’
Goshiki Osmanthus	Osmanthus heterophyllus

Cornucopia

Historically, the cornucopia, or the horn of plenty, was a sign of abundance. It has since taken on a new life as a symbol that we associate with Thanksgiving. 

Cornucopia decorations are typically baskets or ceramic and tend to be filled with food. However, you can use this symbol in your own way and fill it with plants. What a lovely welcome it would make on your doorstep as guests arrive.