Photography by Douglas Lyle Thompson for Gardenista.
All over my neighborhood, front yards and stoops, planters and tree wells look lush. Read on for 15 Halloween ideas to steal from Brooklyn Heights for your own garden.
On the stoop at one townhouse on Sidney Place, a restrained black planter matches the black door and lends a Halloween air.
Black Backdrop:
A black window box at the same townhouse.
Caladium seem to be everywhere these days, and no wonder.
Ghostly White:
Vivacious Vines:
Vegetation has priority on this stoop: lush coleus (coleus went nuts this summer), sweet potato vine, and a spreading tuberous begonia with white blossoms.
Plants on the Loose:
It’s hard to believe that Sidney Place is only one short block.
Unexpected Heat:
On Henry Street, one block closer to the river, diverse plantings on a stoop and in a tree well. . .
The pumpkin and chrysanthemum are to be expected, but check out the orange peppers on the right.
Purple works for Halloween, too (when doesn’t purple work?).
Purple People Eaters:
Don’t be afraid to go big in fall.
Monster Plants:
New York City’s Mascot:
It’s rare that a rat is a welcome sighting in New York, but this guy on Henry Street is more charming than scary.
Ghoulish Gourds:
Joralemon Street is busier than the side streets, but just as nicely decorated. This stoop has some especially well chosen gourds and pumpkins.
Rampant Roses:
On Joralemon Street, a climbing rose laden with orange rose hips has decided to ramble over the railing and across a trellis.
At the same townhouse, more coleus run rampant in window boxes, along with some late-blooming fuchsias. The chartreuse-colored leaves are from the unstoppable “Wasabi” coleus, a recent variety that is the gift that keeps on giving.
Mini Pumpkins:
A felicitous mix of plants at a house on Garden Place.
These boxes fit the season, with their shades of orange, ivy, fuzzy grasses–and yes, mini pumpkins tucked in at the base.
Hawkish Owls:
While Michelle loves Halloween, she confesses to hating the color orange.
Black cats are always in fashion on Halloween.
Black Cats:
A few blocks over on Columbia Place, a particularly handsome and well-kept townhouse has covetable stone window boxes.
Edith Wharton’s Halloween:
Here, the Casper-like shapes of peace lilies flit above white-and-green caladium leaves; boxwood and dwarf cypress fill in the gaps.
Our last stop on Columbia Place had an urn and window boxes that suited their spaces perfectly (aided by the lacy curtains behind).
Halloween-to-Thanksgiving Decor:
A mix of orange-and-gold crotons, mums, and asparagus ferns will look just as good on Thanksgiving, as long as the weather stays mild. But isn’t that half the fun of it?