Photography by Meredith Swinehart.
I was born in New York, and after we moved to almost-always-warm California during my childhood, one of the things I missed most was fall.
Before shopping, I often cut a sturdy paper template that’s the same size as my container’s opening.
A palette of burgundy, deep green, and a touch of bronze will look good all through the season.
‘Obsidian’ Heuchera–one of the deepest, darkest heucheras you can find–anchors this arrangement with its scalloped leaves in a super-saturated plum hue.
Trifolium Repens ‘Atropurpureum’ is one of my new favorites. Plants are available seasonally; $5.50 from Joy Creek Nursery.
Creeping thyme is perfect for planting between everything else. This low-growing ground cover creates a soft, delicate mat that will spill over the pot’s edge as it fills out.
Thyme’s teeny leaves also balance out the broader leaf shapes in the pot.
Upright, spiky leaves of ‘Surfer’ phormium offer contrast to the other plants’ rounded leaves and mounded forms.
If plants have been squished at the nursery, I like to fluff them out a bit (rather than waiting for them to fill out on their own) so they look good right away.
Keep this combination happy by growing it in full to part sun and giving it moderate water (though I often keep these plants on the drier side and they still look great).
You may want to remove some plants when they fill out after a number of months, but you can always transplant them elsewhere in your garden.