Ah, Thanksgiving and the fall Season. Family, friends, and celebration. With a little bit of fun, your yard and garden can be big contributors to the festivities- they'll establish the first impression your guests make as they approach your holiday home.
The warm colors of autumn- the yellows, oranges, reds, rusts and browns- are inately inviting and soothing. The sights, smells and excitement of harvest fills the chilling air.
Seize the spirit and abundance of the harvest season to arrange piles and groups of gourds, pumpkins and squash in apple crates, baskets and boxes or loose alongside walkways on the approach to the front door. A hollowed-out pumpkin left over from Halloween makes a wonderful, though short-term, container for potted plants. Use sphagnum moss to hide the pots.
Around your entry, randomly distribute wicker baskets and red clay pots containing fall-flowering plants such as chrysanthemums, sunflowers, helenium (sneeze weed) and sedum (stone crop). Or fill them with freshly-picked (or store-bought) apples.
Perhaps a wreath of dried flowers could adorn the front door, sprinkled with seed pods, colorful fall leaves, and dried spices and herbs to add delicious aromatic scents as your guests cross the threshold.
Dried, tall corn stalks can be bound together with straw or wide gold ribbon and stood proudly in a corner. A large leafless tree branch could easily accommodate hanging dried fruit, stemmed miniature pumpkins and green or dried pine cones.
Replacing your regular entryway bulb with an orange lamp to imbue a nighttime harvest atmosphere is sure to add to the holiday magic.
Use these ideas for dressing up your home for the holidays, or as starters for your own ideas. Not only will your home be a visual treat for your visitors, it will fill them with memorable sights, scents and sounds of a joyous holiday season.
