Purple and Gold Fall Container

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I spotted this lovely gold and dark purple seasonally appropriate container combo at Fiesta Gardens recently. While I am generally not a fan of the traditional seasonal mixed container, this one is a simple concept with a limited colour palette incorporating unusual plants like the ‘Red Boar’ Kale centre piece that is edible and insanely inexpensive if you start it early in the year. Even still a plant that size at this time of year runs between $6 and $10. I would guess that the price of plants for a container like this (not including the price of the container) would total approximately $50-$100. It’s pricey, a little out of my league — I’d replace the Heuchera with something cheap like black or yellow pansies to lower the cost.

Plants: ‘Red Boar’ Kale [centre], Chrysanthemum [middle ring], Heuchera ‘Black Beauty’ [edging].

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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3 thoughts on “Purple and Gold Fall Container

  1. Thanks for posting the photo and description, Gayla. I really like the combination as well as your suggested modifications.

    Interestingly, I was at a local garden centre this afternoon and saw mixed fall planters of entirely edible plants. I wrote down the combinations so I can start seeds next year on appropriate sowing dates for fall/winter veggies.

    Here are the combos; each was in a 37 cm pot:

    1. Pansies, chard, chives
    2. Calendula, viola, broadleaf garlic chives, Ha Gobo burdock, Akarenso spinach, Brassica ‘Lacinato’
    3. Radicchio, nasturtiums (looked like Alaska types)

    I hate to tell you the prices ($25.00 each).

  2. Well $25 doesn’t sound too bad. A 37cm pot is pretty big. They all sound good… it would be hard to replicate without growing the plants ahead of time because many of those plants are hard to find in stores at this time of year (at least in the North East).

  3. Good points, Gayla. I should have mentioned I live in Vancouver. But even here, it’s difficult to find fall/winter veggie starter plants. I was really happy to find them.

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