Decorating Tips to Warm Winter Decks

Use large arrangements of seedheads from the garden to fill now-empty containers and decorate a deck for fall. Pick plumes of ornamental grasses or seedheads of annuals like sunflowers plus perennials like allium (shown here), coneflowers (Echinacea spp.), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.) or blue false indigo (Baptisia australis).

Other shrubs to consider for temporary display — or permanent display in large containers — include Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) and oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia).

Arrangements With Flair

Use large arrangements of seedheads from the garden to fill those now-empty containers and decorate a deck for fall. Or use branches cut from evergreens. Just stick stems down into the soil, or make arrangements in bushel baskets or copper tubs. (Place a crumpled-up piece of poultry wire in containers that lack soil to hold stems in place.) Make smaller arrangements to dress up tables long after it's too cold to dine outdoors. Avoid using Oriental bittersweet (Celastris orbiculatus) in arrangements because this non-native invasive quickly becomes a serious weed in the garden when seeded around by birds.