Fall Window Box Ideas to Use This Season

Throughout spring and summer, your window boxes have displayed your favorite blooms, decorations, and garden herbs for personal pleasure and curb appeal. But as the temperature drops and the days grow shorter, you’ll need to refresh and revitalize your window boxes with new plants, decorations, and other elements to fit the fall season.

If you're not sure where to start, don't worry. We'll explore five delightful ideas for easy fall window boxes that'll suit your Mason City home perfectly!

Fall flower boxes – choose these blooms!

Fall flowers might not be as numerous or varied as spring or summer species, but there are still plenty of floral selections you can grow to fill your window boxes! Many of these flowers are tolerant of cold weather, though they do need plenty of sunlight – keep that in mind since it means flowery fall window boxes are best situated beneath east-facing windows.

But just what blooms should you choose for fall flower boxes? We recommend:

• Chrysanthemums, also called “mums,” come in a few different colors, including staple autumn shades like red and yellow
• Violas and pansies, which are bright and cold-resistant, can still bloom even if the temperature dips into the 20s
• Heuchera, a perennial known for its broad leaf shapes and lovely shades of red
• Ornamental peppers, which are red or yellow, are perfect next to flowers with cooler shades

Just a few of these plants will make your autumn window boxes look full and lively in a matter of weeks – they’re perfect companion pieces to windows you open frequently for a fresh, fragrant breeze, such as Window World of Mason City’s Double Hung Windows.  

Celebrate the harvest season with ornamental kale & more

Throughout America, fall is the traditional harvest season – it's when crops like corn are collected in mass. The season even culminates with a harvest festival on Thanksgiving! So, it makes plenty of sense to fill your fall flower boxes with thematic adornments.

We're talking flowering kale and cabbage. These green and violet crops aren't for eating, instead leaning into the fall harvest aesthetic to serve the same purpose as ornamental flowers. You can also choose crops like Swiss chard, which catch the early morning sun very well.

Don’t forget hardy herbs! Lavender, rosemary, and chives grow pretty well throughout the fall season, and they can add some delicious flavors to the meals you whip up in your kitchen. Plant these in a window box beneath your kitchen’s sliding window for easy access.

Display fall colors with leaves, hay, & more

When decorating window boxes for fall, the most popular autumn colors – ranging from red and bright orange to yellow and brown – should certainly be present in your home’s window boxes. Aside from the above-mentioned flowers, you can also display these iconic fall hues with:

• Leaves! Collect maple leaves and other colorful fallen leaves from around your property, then stuff them into your window boxes as accessory ornaments (especially if there are just a few empty spaces you need to fill)
• Hay or ornamental grasses, which you can get from a local pumpkin patch, corn maze, or holiday décor store — a few handfuls of hay here and there can fill empty spaces like leaves
• Dried cornstalks, which look especially good when paired with pinecones, red berries, and hay or straw

Pick miniature pumpkins

For many Mason City homeowners, fall decorations just aren’t complete without a few pumpkins. Though you might think of pumpkins as exclusively windowsill or front porch decor, decorating fall window boxes with pumpkins and gourds is the perfect way to bring that festive feel to your home during the autumn season.

Position them in the middle of several blooming fall flowers or ornaments, like pepper plants or Swiss chard, to evoke a natural aesthetic for your home. It might be a perfect way to lean into the feel of the harvest season, especially if your home has rustic or colonial-style architecture.

Don’t want to worry about the pumpkins going bad, especially after Halloween? Choose glass or ceramic pumpkins instead! As an added bonus, you can reuse those pumpkins year after year without needing to head to your local pumpkin patch.

Or showcase your spooky side with Halloween-themed fall window boxes

Speaking of Halloween, your home’s fall window boxes are excellent places to add a bit of dramatic flair to your All Hallows Eve parties or events. Set up a few ghostly ornaments, like flying witches or skulls, in your window boxes to entice trick-or-treaters as they approach your porch for candy.

Spooky or purely decorative window boxes are best positioned beneath wide, open windows. That way, both guests inside your home during a Halloween party and folks on the street can enjoy the display. Just don’t forget to dress up those window boxes with fake webbing for a last, haunting touch!

Whether you want your window boxes to highlight the autumnal beauty of the season or serve as key spots for Halloween decorations, now you’ve got plenty of creative inspiration to start your project! Of course, window boxes look even better when they are situated beneath beautiful, clear windows.

Window World of Mason City is just who you should call if you're looking to renovate your windows before chilly winter weather arrives. Picture windows, bay and bow windows, and many more – we have them all! Stop by our showroom or contact us today to learn more.