I always look forward to decorating our front porch for fall, and my go-to place for picking out our fall flowers and pumpkins is Fairview Garden Center in Raleigh, NC. One of the reasons that I enjoy this time of year with decorating so much is all the possibilities for color combinations. I often lean toward reds, golds, and purples in my color scheme. I also enjoy bringing ornamental peppers and cabbages into planters as a fun way to highlight the harvest season. Fairview Garden Center offers an incredible selection of these types of plants and the quality of their plants is exceptional. There is a reason that they are celebrating their 50th anniversary this fall! Keep scrolling for my fall front porch tips.
You can find my fall front porch decor inspiration here.
Fall Front Porch Tips with Fairview Garden Center
Incorporate Mum Pals
Mum pals are absolutely a must-have when styling a fall front porch. I created a few containers that included my favorite mum pals of ornamental peppers, zinnias, and coleus. Coleus is my go-to flower to incorporate because of how pretty the color and texture is on the one fittingly known as “Dracula.” I will always bring in a Croton plant because the colors just pull in so nicely for all the fall flower colors. I also really love marigolds and the selection at Fairview Garden Center is always great and they last so long.
There is no such thing as too many pumpkins
I have always been a big fan of white pumpkins to help break up the orange in the foliage and traditional pumpkins. I also really enjoy stacking flat pumpkins. Several years ago, I also purchased some faux pumpkins to use in the heavily covered areas that have come in handy through the years.
Add lanterns for a little ambiance
I love adding battery-operated candles in these lanterns that can be set on a timer to add a little ambiance to our porch, and it looks easily lovely in the fall. The candles that I use come with a remote that helps control the timing so they all turn on at the same time, which is one of those little things that makes a big difference if you are OCD like me.
Add in textures
I started adding pottery containers that I picked up from Fairview Garden Center to my collection for the porch and the textures and varying heights of those have been pretty additions. I also mix up textures with the rugs, the ottoman and side table set, and the various fabrics of pillows.
Bring in the greenery
One thing about me is that I will always have ferns on our porch, season permitting. That said, 2024 has been the year of the topiary for me. I recently added this beautiful evergreen topiary by the front door that I plan on including in our Christmas decorations this year. I am all in on a tabletop topiary, especially now that we have this little bistro table and chairs.
Finish with mums — lots of mums
The bigger the mum, the better! My go-to mum colors are white, burgundy, and bicolor mums. This year, I did a giant white mum with small burgundy for individual pots and containers. I used ornamental peppers and vines I planted in spring pots, including sweet potato vines. We should also talk about how to water mums. A common mistake is to water the flowers when it is important to water from the stems to avoid stem rot. For blooming timelines and other care tips, check out Fairview Garden Center’s helpful mum guide!
If you are looking for more front porch inspiration, head over to this page. I also cannot recommend taking time to peruse Fairview Garden Center for ideas as well! We took the dogs for a Saturday morning adventure to get inspired, especially when it came to creating our own containers. That said, I always get one or two pre-made containers because the staff at Fairview does it better than anywhere else!
Thank you to my friends at Fairview Garden Center for partnering with me to get our front porch fall-ready! Be sure to head over to get the perfect plants to brighten your porch and yard. And don’t miss their 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday, October 26!
