common ground : Welcome to the Fall Front Porch

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Welcome to the Fall Front Porch

Hi friends, Happy October! It's taken me awhile to get the porch decorated this season because it's been so warm around here and the yard has been a mess because of the drought we're in. No sense drawing attention to the porch when the yard looks atrocious. Although... we have a long school pick-up line each afternoon at 3:30 on the street in front and I sort of feel an obligation to have something nice for them to look at. Nothing like a line of 40 cars coming by critiquing your outdoor décor each afternoon!

I bought these nubby orange textured pillow covers a few years ago and I don't think I used them for fall; maybe late spring. When I saw them in the stack I thought they'd work great for fall alongside the little lumbar pillow with the fall flowers and black/white check graphic. In the past I've embellished the bench a bit more, but with all the critters out and about this year I kept it to a minimum.

I'm using my little wooden wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins and a painted wooden fruit basket with faux mums. I realized a few years ago that I was spending a lot of money on fall flowers and pumpkins and then having all out war with the wildlife because they wanted to eat them. It's not like they're starving, but just being "wildlife" is enough to make them want to chow down. After Thanksgiving we bring the pumpkins back out and and chop them up for a gourd smorgasbord.

I put out a few little berry vines that hopefully will last a bit. One year at Christmas my faux evergreen garland had red "holly berries" on it and honestly every one of them was bit off by Christmas Eve. Someone had a tummy ache I imagine with all that plastic and paint on them.

This year for spring and summer I planted English Ivy in the small urns instead of flowers. That choice was better than blooms and basically was left alone. I have found a few nuts in the dirt but nothing too bad.

This white and orange pumpkins came inside after the pics and I'm using them for decor in my goat cart in the garden room.

I grabbed some faux berries, leaves, and grasses, along with a few hydrangeas to put together this door basket. I've mentioned before that doing a basket here is much better than a wreath. Plus you can see it better from the street. We have a large wooded front yard, so whatever is here on the porch and door has to be bright and show up.

I love using a plaid seasonal wired ribbon to decorate a door basket. It might be old school, but it's still one of my favorite choices for decorating. And my Sherwin Williams "Spicy Hue" door color is perfect for Autumn decorating.

My dilapidated watering can has a faux berry vine and a real pumpkin friend nearby.

Last fall I put out shed antlers in the little wheelbarrow for a pumpkin grouping. I'd noticed throughout the year there had been a lot of chewing going on. I just left them out instead of pitching them. The squirrels love them, since they're a good source of protein and calcium for the critters.

For containers front and back I do a combination of lantana, asparagus fern and geraniums for the hummingbirds. They love the lantana and the reds and pinks draw them in for yummy nectar. They got a lot of action this year. Plus it's about 3 times as large as it started out. This is about 4 feet wide.