3 things you need for a spooky & spectacular Halloween garden
The garden season is almost over, but the most fun part happens at the VERY end! Alex Calamia has some tips using plants from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island.
Want a spooky and spectacular garden for Halloween? The growing season is almost over, but these fall container ideas are so exciting that I often call it a "second spring". Here are three things to consider when creating a Halloween garden that can last through the holiday.
1. Anything can be a planter
Halloween is the perfect excuse to get creative with containers and think beyond traditional flower pots. Old trick-or-treating containers, metal baskets, and even unusual objects can become planters and instantly give your garden a different look.
If you're using these containers inside the house, you can keep your plant in its original plastic container and hide it in your Halloween-themed container. However, if you're going to do this in an outdoor garden, make sure you drill holes in the bottom of your container.
Plants need somewhere for excess water to escape. A container without drainage can quickly become waterlogged, especially during the cool, rainy weather we've seen so far this autumn. Once you have drainage, let the container become part of the Halloween display. The right plant in an unexpected container can be just as eye-catching as a store-bought decoration.
2. Choose unusual plants
Don't limit your Halloween garden to the plants you normally see in fall displays. Some plants that are considered summer annuals actually appreciate the cooler temperatures of October.
Frost-sensitive choices
Many of us don't experience our first hard freeze of the season until after Halloween, so you can still play around with summer annuals in your Halloween garden. Zinnias and marigolds love the heat but will keep blooming right to frost. Petunias, strawflowers and celosia grow strong in cool weather and add some really exciting textures.
For a Halloween garden, orange zinnias and marigolds are especially useful because their colors naturally fit the season. You can even find fragrant varieties of marigolds that add another dimension to the garden. You may also find crotons at garden centers in the fall. Their dramatic orange, yellow, red, and green foliage looks almost made for Halloween, but remember that crotons are tropical and need protection from cold.
Hardy plant choices
If you'd like your autumn containers to live beyond Halloween time, there are plenty of plants that will keep looking good through Thanksgiving and even into the holiday season.
Mums are the classic fall choice and are a perennial if you plant them early enough, but asters are another option worth considering. Native asters can provide late-season flowers and are reliable perennials. Asters have a much better chance of returning next year instead of being treated as a one-season decoration.
A great perennial to consider are pansies. There so many beautiful orange, purples, and nearly black flowers that would add a dramatic touch for your container. During a mild year, pansies will bloom all winter long, but even in cold years pansies will often rebloom in spring.
Dusty miller is another great choice for a Halloween garden because of its silvery foliage. Ornamental kale and cabbage can also handle cool weather and add unusual texture and color to containers.
For a different look, consider silver-leaved salvias like the one in our segment. Salvia argentea, sometimes called silver sage, has remarkably fuzzy, silvery leaves that can look almost otherworldly. However, it's only hardy during very mild years in our climate so consider these as annuals or store them indoors for winter.
3. Know your frost date
The biggest mistake you can make with a Halloween garden is assuming that every plant is finished as soon as October arrives. Our first frost can vary by up to a month depending on the year, occuring in mid October during cold years or mid November in mild years. Microclimates play a big role too with some yards. Grassy spots away from the house tend to be much colder than your front porch.
If our 10 day forecast shows a night below 40-degrees, bring your frost sensitive containers inside.
About Fantastic Gardens of Long Island.
If you are looking for something a little different for your Halloween garden, Fantastic Gardens in Patchogue is a great place to look. Their selection goes well beyond the typical garden-center lineup, with unusual houseplants, succulents, perennials, and other hard-to-find plants. They provided the plants featured in this segment.
Their garden center is located at 67 Avery Avenue in Patchogue, but there plants are also available for plant lovers that don't live close by. Fantastic Gardens ships their plants across the nation and they are also available at the Union Square Greenmarket, on most Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
