16 Fall Plants That Are Worth Buying From Lowe's To Add Beauty To Your Porch

Once temperatures drop and frost creeps across the land, it's time to make the switch from summer gardening to fall gardening. Whether you're growing vegetables or ornamentals, fall gardens help ease that feeling of loss gardeners sometimes have at the end of the growing season. So, even though you're busy with fall cleanup and adding plants to kickstart your spring flower garden, it only takes a little time to head down to Lowe's and pick out a few annuals, perennials, and shrubs to add beauty to your porch and keep your green thumb busy for the next several weeks.

There are several factors to consider when you're selecting fall plants for your porch. With a rich variety of textures and colors available for fall container gardens, some gardeners add extra plants to makeover their flagging summer containers. Others start fresh and add all new plants to a container. Whatever you choose, recognize that each plant has its limitations as growth slows in the waning light of fall. While some plants, including lilacs and ornamental kale, will overwinter in your container, others won't, especially in northern climates.

Fall is a time when some gardeners like to push the limits of their USDA Hardiness Zone just to squeeze everything they can out of the season, but it's important to select plants based on your climate region. How long your fall containers last depends on where you live and what types of plants you selected. 

At Lowe's, you can pick up single-color garden mums (Chrysanthemum x morifolium) in shades of red, purple, orange, pink, and more in 3-quart pots, for about $10 each. Although chrysanthemums have been grown for thousands of years, they have reached an elevated status as an iconic fall flower in the past few centuries. Whether used alone or grown with other perennial plants for a showstopping fall container garden, they will bring a colorful autumn touch to patios in zones 5 through 9 every year.

Lowe's carries several varieties of arborvitae, including the popular 'Golden Globe' arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe'), which is hardy in zones 2 to 8. Almost anyone can overwinter one of these in a container on a porch, and priced at just under $20, 'Golden Globe' is a sure winner for seasonal containers. It provides form, filler, and structure in fall planters, and you can keep this plant as you transition to Christmas holiday containers. In the spring, you can choose to keep this plant in a container or add it to one of your flower beds.

If you're a little shy about planting a fall container garden, choose snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus). Able to tolerate light frosts, snapdragons are a cold-hardy annual flower in most regions. In zones 7 to 10, they can overwinter or be grown as short-lived perennials and may continue to bloom year-round. Available at Lowe's in the fall, snapdragons come in a variety of colors, including orange, red, and yellow. They pair well with other hardy annual flowers, such as alyssum and pansies, for a fun splash of autumn color.

It's common to move plants in and out of the planters on your porch or patio, but there's one you may want to leave from season to season. The coral bells 'Apple Twist' is a lime-green Heuchera hybrid that looks just as good in a planter by itself as it does when combined with ornamental grasses and other shade-loving plants. Heuchera can be grown as an evergreen perennial, and this one from the Proven Winners' 'Dolce' series is hardy in zones 4 to 9, so many growers can easily overwinter it in containers.

A bowl of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum tectorum) offers a mounded focal point in any setting, from zone 3 to 8, and can really stand out on your front porch. Otherwise known as house leeks, this drought-tolerant succulent looks beautiful in outdoor planters at all times of the year. Whether you shop online for evergreen succulents or go in person, Lowe's offers many hardy succulents that can be planted separately or combined with other plants in your fall container garden.

Hardy in zones 9 to 11, Kimberly Queen ferns (Nephrolepis obliterata 'Kimberly Queen') can be added to the front porch of homes in the fall. In the southern parts of the country, ferns add greenery and texture to fall planters. When combined with iconic fall flowers like chrysanthemums, you can create a vibrant, colorful display on your front porch that's sure to welcome visitors to your home. Lowe's has Costa Farms Kimberly Queen ferns in 10-inch pots available for around $27.

In August, July, or even earlier, depending on your growing zone, you can start flowering kale and cabbage (Brassica oleracea) from seed and have them ready for containers or flower beds in September and October. Ornamental kale and cabbage plants mature in approximately 90 days from seed and tolerate temperatures down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. They are a staple for fall and winter containers, and you can still get them from Lowe's for about $45 for a pack of 5, if you didn't start any from seed this year.

When it comes to fall container gardens, blooms aren't everything. In the fall, Sedum and stonecrop species are available in shades of blue, green, pink, red, and purple, which can also change as the temperatures drop. Lowe's has hardy succulents in 10-by-20-inch mats available for about $34, which can be used to fill planters, either alone or combined with cold-hardy annuals and other outdoor succulents, such as the popular hens-and-chicks plant. The ultimate low-maintenance plant, Sedum can be grown in zones 3 to 9.

Frequently associated with early spring, pansies (Viola spp.) are a good way to extend your growing season on either side, providing bursts of color in fall containers and flower beds long after other plants have given up from the cold. Once temperatures drop below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, however, most plants in the Viola genus need to be covered or brought into a greenhouse to survive. No matter what you call them, there are hundreds of plants in this genus to choose from, typically hardy in zones 3 to 9.

The ornamental grasses in your summer flower pots can be left in place and given new life in the fall. Lowe's also has many varieties of grass for sale in the fall to refresh your planters. Many ornamental grasses can be added to your landscape at the end of fall, offering benefits such as drought tolerance and visual interest in the winter. Take a layered approach to a fall planter for your porch, use ornamental grasses, including pampas and muhly, with other cold-hardy plants, such as Heuchera, Sedum, and herbs.

Imagine stunning yellow, orange, and red coneflowers (Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit') towering above the burnished foliage of a Heuchera variety, with ornamental grasses swaying in the wind, adding glowing fall color and clean lines to your fall planter design. Hardy in zones 4 to 9, coneflowers are popular for adding cottage charm to any landscape or planter. At Lowe's, this popular hybrid isn't always in stock, but you can also select one of the other varieties of echinacea that they carry before winter.

Like many plants available in the fall, there is a wide variety of heath (Erica spp.) and heather (Calluna vulgaris) available at big box stores and nurseries late into the season. These are popular choices because they add flowers in the fall and evergreen leaves through the winter, making them useful as fillers for multiple seasons. This fall, those in zones 6 through 8 can grow Kramer's Rote Heather (Erica x darleyensis 'Kramer's Rote'), after buying it online at Lowe's for about $27. Decorate with pine cones or pumpkins, and add chrysanthemums to complete the look.

Most of what you include in your planters depends heavily on your growing zone. Weather changes quickly in the fall, especially in northern regions, but you may still be able to get several weeks of enjoyment out of Petunia species planted in the fall. One way to bring an extraordinary pink color to your fall landscape is with Petunia hybrid 'Supertunia Vista Bubblegum', available at Lowe's for $45 for a 4-pack. 'Supertunia' Petunia hybrids can withstand temperatures down to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, providing spectacular blooms in planters for your porch. 

Before they turn dormant, Hostas provide some incredible fall color and can be an excellent addition to your porch planters throughout autumn in zones 3 to 9. When creating a layered design with plenty of color, greenery, and texture, Hostas are an eye-catching filler that can be combined with ornamental grasses, Chrysanthemums, and flowering kale. With so many different colors and Hosta species available at Lowe's, it's easy to find ones that will add style to your fall planters.

One of the lesser well-known plants to use in fall planters for an explosive burst of color is Bidens 'Campfire Flame', hardy in zones 9 to 11. Bidens (Bidens ferulifolia) are annuals with cheerful yellow-orange daisy flowers that bloom abundantly into the fall. The 'Campfire Flame' hybrid's petals are red with yellow centers, and there's almost no other flower that does the orange colors of Halloween justice like this one. If you live in a warm climate, look for Bidens 'Campfire Flame' when you're at Lowe's.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) looks fantastic on its own in a pot, but it's also a good herb for adding texture and evergreen color to fall containers. A perennial in warmer regions (such as zones 8 and above), rosemary can't always overwinter in its pot, but it may be brought indoors for winter. Whether you decide to keep it in a container garden or plant it in the ground next season, you can choose from various rosemary plants available at Lowe's. The best rosemary varieties for containers stay small and add that edible element to your fall porch planters.