Planting A Fall Container With Kale, Eucalyptus and Branches - September 2026

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We're officially in Fall.  Calendar-wise, at least.  

We have football on the tv.  The temperatures are dropping.  And, the stores already have their Christmas stuff out. 

So, it was time to transition our front porch container into Fall.

One of my annual to-do list goals (#16) is to do 'better containers'.  

Our Wintertime container is done by a porch professional:  Churchill Garden Design.  And Elise Churchill (of Churchill Garden Design) does a GREAT job.  MUCH, MUCH better than I could ever do with these containers.  Here's our 2025 version featuring evergreens.  We've had her do a Fall container before and it looks so good.  Here is her 2024 version that featured some kales, an ivy, some mums and I think some hot pepper plants.  Like I said...she has such a good eye and a nice touch with porch containers.  

Using her Winter 2025 container as inspiration and recycling some of the things that were in that very Christmas container last year, I put together a Fall container with two types of kale, two types of eucalyptus and a bunch of different branches. 

Here it is below:

I put in seven kales.  Five across the front and one on each side.  Alternating between two varieties:  Nagoya White Kale (with creamy white centers) and Nagoya Rose Kale (with purple centers).  You can see the containers and tags for each of them below:

Nagoya White Kale

Nagoya Rose Kale

The branches are a mix of red(ish) dogwood twigs, some white painted branches and some branches from our backyard that I spray painted in a black metallic paint that I had on-hand.  

I *really* cribbed from her Christmas container as inspiration for this Fall one.

Here, below, is a comparison of the two.  My Fall container on top, the professional, Churchill Garden Design version on the bottom:

Or, as Pam from The Office might say:

This *has to* count toward my goal of 'doing better containers', right?  #16 on the list?  I think so.  Maybe not hanging the 'mission accomplished' banner, but I feel like I got this one right. 

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