Halloween Decorations from the Garden
Garden Tips for Fall Planting
Fragrant hyacinths make a colorful display in a garden bed or can be grown in pots. They come in red, pink, blue, and white and can be planted now.
Clean up the garden by raking leaves and old flower blossoms out from under your shrubs. Roses and camellias especially appreciate this. Clean up water lilies by cutting off dead leaves. Leave hardy lilies in the pond and sink them down to the bottom for the winter.
Plant ground covers to cover slopes and large open areas. Water until the rains come, and they will fill in and cover the area next year. Snapdragons make cheerful spots of color for the fall and winter garden—plant some now for instant color.
Halloween Decorations from the Garden
Halloween is fun for all ages, and gardeners can find many decorations in their own backyard. Start with pumpkins—whether you grew them or need to buy them this year. The best pumpkins for carving have a flattened end to prevent tipping, but any size or shape will work. A solid handle makes it easy to open and close the Jack-o’-lantern lid if you plan to put a candle inside.
- Separate seeds from the pumpkin meat—they make a delicious snack when lightly stir-fried in oil and salted.
- Pumpkins come in many colors: orange (for decorating), tan (for pie), bright red-orange (Cinderella pumpkins), Australian Blue, miniature varieties like ‘Jack-Be-Little,’ and white ones like ‘Casper.’
Ornamental gourds also make great Halloween decorations. Small gourds are easy to grow, and you can try birdhouse, bottle, or speckled swan gourds in a hot, full-sun garden site. Harvest when the stem dries, then dry for a week in a warm place before waxing, polishing, or smoothing with steel wool for painting.
Butternut squash are perfect for crafting white gourd ghosts. If you didn’t grow any, find them at local markets. Decorate your porch with bunches of dried cornstalks or hang Indian corn from your front door. Create a garden scarecrow for fun.
- Make wreaths from colorful leaves, dried flowers, nuts, and cones by wiring or gluing them onto a grapevine base.
- Decorate your front porch with pumpkins, gourds, and ornamental kale, which stays colorful all fall and winter.
Don’t forget backyard wildlife! Put out extra treats for birds and other animals, and save pumpkin pulp and seeds for them.
For lovers of fall foliage and garden harvests, decorating for Halloween offers an earthy pleasure no other holiday can match.