The Plants & Flowers Joanna Gaines Uses To Create A Stunning Fall Porch Display

It's fall — time to swap out the bright, bold flowers of summer for plants and blooms that make you think of harvest time. While chrysanthemums are a classic for autumn, there are plenty of other options for pretty porch flowers this season, and the queen of cozy home design and showstopping floral displays, Joanna Gaines, has plenty of tips and suggestions for putting together container and porch displays that capture the essence of the season.

Gaines shares her tips for fall planter success in a Magnolia Journal blog post. Some of her favorite fall plants include coleus (Coleus scutellarioides), with its deep ruby red and green leaves, coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), which is known for attracting birds and butterflies, and the coppery red 'Brilliance' Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora). Other favorites are thyme (Thymus), sedum (Hylotelephium), begonia (Begonia), and coralbells (Cocculus carolinus).

As for her tips, Gaines is a firm believer in the classic container formula — thrillers, spillers, and fillers. For thrillers, she's chosen plants like coneflower and Eustacia Vye rose, which tower over their fellow container mates. Fillers make a planter look lush and typically include plants like coleus, an easy-to-grow option known for its vibrant foliage. Spillers are the plants that trail off of a container, like sweet potato vine or Swedish ivy (Plectranthus australis). While you can stick with the plants Gaines recommends, she also encourages you to have fun and to head to your local nursery ready to be inspired by what's available. There may be a plant that's not on Gaines' list that catches your eye, and if so, it definitely deserves a spot in your fall porch display.

To bring some Magnolia vibes to your own front porch, start by creating a mood board that captures how you want your entryway to feel. Gaines says she chooses one or two colors for each planter to give it a cohesive feel, and then looks for plants whose foliage or flowers match her chosen color palette. For fall, plants in shades of deep purple, dark green, and burgundy are perfect — trade in sweet potato vine with bright green-yellow leaves for a variety with deep purple foliage, like Blackie, or a variety with red leaves, like Garnet Lace.

Once you've picked the best plants for your container garden, it's time to choose how many you need. Gaines encourages you to arrange your planters in groups of three or six, depending on the size of your area. She also recommends having more plants than you think you'll need — you want to really fill up your planters, using at least two of each variety per pot. As the months stretch on to the first frost, you'll see which plants thrive and which ones don't. Take notes, so when you're putting together your fall porch displays next year, you know what worked and what didn't.