It isn’t too early to start thinking about how to transition the garden to Autumn. From outdoor lighting ideas to patio pots, here is a little inspiration!
Just a Zone 6a Girl Transplanted to Zone 10a
While it is still super hot and humid here in Florida (as well as many parts of the country), I am getting anxious to start thinking about how to transition the garden for Autumn. Here are a few ways I am planning on adding a glimpse or two of Autumn to my outdoor area!
If you are new to the blog, you will soon discover my interests range from Flowers ( a former florist) to Flour (a former pizzeria owner ) and many things in between! I often describe myself as a Zone 6a girl living in a tropical world!
Fall into Gardening – Transition the Garden to Autumn
Growing zones (developed by the USDA) help gardeners determine which plants are most likely to thrive in which areas of the country. After living in the Midwest for the majority of my life, learning how to garden in Zone 10 has been a bit of a challenge!
Even after several years, I am still adjusting to gardening in the tropics due to the differences in the growing zones. The USDA has the country divided into various growing zones based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. The zones range from 1a (Alaska) to 13 b (Puerto Rico). The zones help gardeners determine which plants are most likely to thrive in which locations.
When I lived in Illinois and Ohio, I was living in the hardiness zone of 6a. Several of my favorite plants were considered tender perennials, meaning they would need to be brought inside during the winter. By being brought inside, they could survive the cold winter. When spring came, they could be taken back outside. During the winter, their growth would definitely slow down, Examples of tender perennials that I particularly love would be scented geraniums , lemon verbena and rosemary. Several varieties of rosemary have been developed over the years that are considered to be winter hardy.
Now that I am living in Southwest Florida, I am considered to be living in zone 10a. Southwest Florida is considered to be tropical. Are you familiar with the old saying “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!”? Before we moved to Florida, I was sure I wouldn’t be bothered by the heat and the humidity. After all, I had spent the previous 4 1/2 years standing next to a 550 degree pizza oven and the summers in Illinois are humid. How bad could it be?
BAD….. the humidity is AWFUL!!!!! It is humid almost 365 days a year in Florida. I am still figuring out a way to deal with the humidity.
The humidity doesn’t just affect humans, it can affect the plants too. I now understand one of the reasons the plant tags on geraniums sold in Florida say “grow from Fall to Spring”. The humidity can cause the geraniums to get a disease called botrytis blight or gray mold. The first year in Florida, I lost about 1/2 of my geraniums due to the botrytis blight.
Fall Gardening Inspiration
Fall in Florida is certainly different than Fall in Illinois! Fall is still about a month away, but I am getting anxious to start adding touches of Autumn to the landscape!
Here are a few photos of ways I decorated for Fall in the past:
Whether you are in the Midwest or in the South, one quick way to add Autumn touches to your outdoor planters is to add pumpkins or gourds to the planters.
Folks living in Florida don’t decorate outside with real pumpkins till much later in the season. My little white pumpkins held up well . I think they might actually be in the gourd family instead of pumpkins. Maybe that is why.
As well as adding pumpkins or gourds to your planters, you can add silk flowers. I was able to cut one bush of silk flowers apart:
and add the leaves to two of my succulent pots.
How To Refresh A Summer Patio Pot for Autumn
By now, your summer geranium containers might be looking a little bedraggled! Instead of tossing them in the compost pile, why not give your summer geranium pot a quick makeover/refresh and enjoy it through the Autumn season. Check out the before photo of this geranium patio pot in the post highlighted above. It really was quite sad looking!
By using the tips in this post Late Fall Makeover For A Geranium Patio Pot
you can go from bedraggled to bedazzling!
Outdoor Lighting Ideas
Two years ago, I added two sets of hanging solar lights to our landscape. These hanging lights are so very versatile! Here is how they look during the day on the front of our home.
and here they are at night:
But have you ever considered using your hanging lanterns in a slightly different way? I recently used one of the hanging lanterns as the light source for an outdoor centerpiece!
Easy Solar Lantern Centerpiece
I have also simply placed them on small tables around the lanai to add a little more light during an evening event.
These lanterns are the perfect size and they have a flat bottom so they will stand up on their own!
If you are interested in learning more about these solar lanterns, you can read all the details here:
Battery lights are another option for outdoor lighting. I have used battery operated pillar candles in centerpieces like this succulent centerpiece pictured below:
Simple Summer Succulent Centerpiece
This shell motif battery candle is perfect for a coastal themed outdoor centerpiece!
Coastal Themed Summer Dough Bowl Centerpiece
I also love using battery operated taper candles in my outdoor centerpieces!
Waterproof fairy lights are also a great addition to your Autumn landscape!
I hope you have enjoyed this look back to Autumns past and found a few tips on how to transition your garden for Autumn!
Looking forward to what you do for fall. I can’t believe how long it has taken for your insurance from that hurricane. At least you finally got money.
Yes, the whole insurance industry in Florida is much different than in Illinois. It has been a battle for a number of people. We are excited to finally put that behind us and get the rest of the damage repaired.