Autumn window box ideas: 10 ways to add colour and scent
A well-designed autumn window box will see you right through winter, offering a welcoming touch as well as lifting the exterior look of your home. Perfect for bringing a dazzling display to your patio, porch or balcony, they can easily be switched up for occasions like Halloween or Christmas too.
Choose long-lasting plants like winter-flowering pansies, cyclamen and heather mixed with interesting foliage varieties to make sure your displays have staying power right through the season. Whether you like structured and formal planting ideas or a more naturalistic style you will find fresh inspiration in our selection.
Window boxes can be a key element of your front garden ideas, so follow our expert suggestions to make sure you embrace seasonal planting and nail the look this autumn.
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1. Choose gold and orange autumn colours
Bronzy oranges matched with pale yellow works well as a colour combination for both autumn garden planter ideas and window boxes. This bright and beautiful copper and bronze mix of burnt orange, apricot and pale lemon winter flowering pansies paired with sunny yellow primulas just sums up the mood for autumn.
The foliage combination adds texture and shape too, with heart-shaped lamium leaves and pale green feathery dwarf conifers acting as fillers in the centre of the display, while tendrils of trailing ivy complete the look. The joy of these is that you can keep them going for ages to offer structure and texture in your window box, simply switching in fresh colour as and when you need to freshen up your seasonal porch ideas.
Plants like pansies can be used both for spring and autumn containers to prolong your window box show, and will flower for months. Just remember to keep snipping off any faded flowers to keep the show going.
2. Opt for a classic white window box design
When combined with crisp green foliage white flowers offer a polished look for autumn window boxes. As autumn turns to winter they will add a bright gleam to your display, especially on darker days. Another plus is that they go with anything and will partner seamlessly with the exterior of your house.
One of the best plants for winter pots, beautiful cyclamen deliver for months on end. Choose a hardy variety called Cyclamen coum or Cyclamen hederifolium (available at Thompson & Morgan). Ready-grown plants are widely available and will instantly uplift window boxes.
Other white flowers to choose from that work well for your autumn window boxes include pansies, primulas, heather and hellebores. You can also layer in white bulbs to the mix, and these will pop up in spring. Good choices to include are crocuses (such as this ‘Jeanne D’Arc’ variety from Dobies), white muscari and paper whites.
3. Introduce shape and texture to your autumn window box
Opt for a combination of feathery grasses, purple ornamental cabbages and one or two dark blooms chosen from an autumnal colour palette for a perfect interpretation of the rich, deep tones of autumn. Try weaving lightweight twigs across the surface of the soil as a finishing touch.
Use button chrysanthemums in shades of bronze and copper as a filler, together with ivy at the heart of your display. Chrysanthemums are one of our top choices if you’re looking for ideas on what to plant in September, and they’re definitely back in fashion in a big way. An autumn classic, they come in shades of burnt orange, burgundy red and golden yellow. They can be grown in partial shade or full sun, and are the perfect filler plant for window boxes.
Popular in autumn gardens, flowering ornamental cabbage has lush frilled purple and green leaves for a show-stopping look that works in window boxes too. They love full sun but can dry out easily, so keep them well-watered even in cool weather.
Stunning red fountain grass has dark feathery foliage that adds a textural note to fall window box ideas. It’s one of the best types of ornamental grass for your display as its height means it’s a good ‘thriller’ plant.
4. Go for modern industrial-style window boxes
These compact ribbed garden planters are ideal if you’re looking for something stylish to show off your plants. Choose galvanised metal if you’re looking for an urban vibe and stack them up together to work the look.
If you’re putting your window boxes in a sheltered spot think about planting them up with succulents or herbs to extend your growing season. If you choose a style like these ones that don’t have a drainage hole you can easily transfer them indoors when bad weather threatens, especially as they’re lightweight too.
Shop window box planters for autumn displays
Garden Trading
Vence Window Box
Measuring 90cm wide and made from galvanised steel for a more industrial look, this is a timeless design that will add instant kerb appeal to your home. Needs to be used with internal pots or a liner.
Dibor
Mela Green Planters (set of two)
What’s not to love about these stylish planters? Made from durable fibreclay with a striking ribbed pattern and a soft sage green finish, these frost-resistant designs are available in choice of two different sizes.
Gardening Naturally
Aluzinc Windowsill Planter)
Measuring 80cm wide, this indoor/outdoor planter is suitable for a wide range of displays. Made from Aluzinc, it’s lightweight but durable and comes with a drainage hole to prevent plants getting waterlogged.
5. Add a pumpkin or two to your window box for a seasonal update
If you’re not sure what to put in your autumn window box, try a little bit of everything. An ivy-covered wreath anchors this scheme centre stage, while Phormium ‘Baby Bronze’ adds architectural detail with its pointy purple-bronze foliage making it a perfect specimen plant.
Ornamental peppers will add vibrant colour and interesting shapes to your container garden. Winter-fruiting Christmas cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) is another great window box plant. This small, upright, bushy, evergreen shrub has long-lasting red, yellow or orange berry-like fruit. Finally a trailing plant helps to soften the edges for that spiller effect.
This is a look that can easily be switched up for your outdoor Halloween decor by tucking small pumpkins into your existing display.
6. Extend summer with an autumn window box
If your summer window boxes and planters were a real success don’t be too keen to tip the plants into the compost bin as there are lots that will happily keep going into autumn.
Pelargoniums are very robust and easy to care for, with a long flowering season that means they bloom well into autumn. “This makes them the ideal choice for planters and window boxes on balconies, patios, terraces and other areas close to the house where you want to enjoy your outdoor space for as long as possible,” says Dr Suzanne Lux of Pelargonium for Europe.
Plant expert Sarah Raven is also a big fan of pelargoniums. “One of my favourites for window boxes is to use the pollinator-friendly pelargoniums with scented leaves, such as ‘Attar of Roses’, which has the most delicious rosy fragrance. The flowers are edible, and you can use the leaves for cordials and teas too.” It flowers until the end of November too.
7. Match your autumn window box to your home’s exterior
If you love the idea of personalising your autumn window box to match the exterior of your home you will be spoilt for choice. “External features such as window ledges, window frames and window boxes can all be painted with the same shade of masonry paint to create a uniform look,” says Matthew Brown, technical consultant at Sadolin & Sandtex.
A smart look like this demands smart planting to go with it. Some of the best plants for window boxes include hebe and thyme as they can be clipped into naturally compact balls. Mix in some pale lemon primroses to add a touch of colour that’s a perfect fit with a muted colour palette.
If you’re working your way through your September gardening checklist be sure to check over your window boxes to see if they need a fresh coat of paint to better set off a new planting display.
8. Make an autumn planting display pop against black
Autumn window boxes can be hung from fences, walls and sheds too, so this is your opportunity to frame your best displays against a dramatic backdrop of colour. Black-painted garden fences make the perfect canvas to let your window box planting take centre stage.
Bringing black in as a colour for containers really gives you that lovely, modern feel, especially when paired with pink planting for a colour combo that pops every time.
9. Choose plants that will last through autumn and beyond
Choose a vibrant colour palette for your autumn window box if you like more impact from your planting. Deep tones of pink are a good option as it’s easy to match up different varieties of plant in the same colourway, plus of course pink always makes an impact.
Easy going winter heather should be central to your ideas and the good news is it comes in a multitude of pink shades. With evergreen foliage and pretty, long-lasting bell-shaped flowers, heather offers an instant lift and is readily available in garden centres.
Try mixing heather with another window box classic like cyclamen, which also comes in a huge range of pink tones and is equally long lasting so it’s a good fit.
Thompson & Morgan
Erica x darleyensis ‘Darley Dale’
Ideal for growing in window boxes, planters and as ground cover, this will produce pale pink flowers from late winter to early spring. Can be grown in a wide range of soil types.
10. Double the effect by layering up the look
For pops of jewel-bright velvety colour you can’t beat a combination of violas and anemones. “I passionately recommend this winter and spring-flowering pair for any sheltered window box,” says Sarah Raven. “The lovely viola will flower soon after planting and continues for month after month, joined by this new huge saucer-flowered anemone from late winter to early summer.”
Choose a highly scented variety of viola that’s winter and spring flowering. They are perfect for a window ledge, doorstep pots and other containers. Violas prefer cool, protected, partial shade, especially in summer months with moist, but free-draining soil or compost.
Thompson & Morgan
Viola ‘Most Scented Mix’
Add some beautiful scent to your autumn window box with this selection of vibrant viola plants. Some parts of these flowers are also edible. Will grow best in well-drained soil, in sun or semi shade.
As a final suggestion, if you already have a herb garden in your window boxes consider leaving them to see how they do when it gets cooler. Chives, sage, thyme and rosemary will all hold up well even when it gets frosty.
Sarah Raven suggests planting mint in window boxes, as well as ornamental sage like Salvia viridis ‘Blue’, which lasts right into autumn in mild gardens. “Try Rosemary prostratus too, which has cascading, evergreen foliage or ‘Tuscan Blue’, which flowers in late winter and early spring and sometimes again in autumn. Whether for one large window box, or a succession of several over the front on the sunny side of your house, this combination would be perfectly on trend and beautiful.”
If you want to plant other crops to see you through autumn and winter, our suggestions for vegetables to plant in September should guarantee you a plentiful harvest for the months ahead.
The original version of this article previously appeared on Gardeningetc, a sister website to Homebuilding & Renovating.