Hooray! Fall is almost here! Time to start thinking, planning, scheming and dreaming about getting your front porch or storefront looking festive for the season.

So...what are our favorite thrillers, fillers and spillers for fall planters? Colorful crotons and ornamental grasses are our thrillers of choice. Be aware that crotons will not survive a freeze. If you would like to keep your croton as a houseplant over the winter, make sure to dig it out before a frost.

Next come the fillers, which fill in around the middle of the planter. Our favorite fillers for fall are pansies, cabbage, kale and pumpkins. What? Pumpkins? You bet! Just pop some pie pumpkins or mini-pumpkins right into the pot. So festive!

Last come the spillers, which cascade over the sides of the planter. Our go-to spillers for fall are bright green moneywort and vinca major. You can find all these plants at your local garden center or a big box hardware store.

In the picture above, we used a croton as the thriller. There are lots of fillers going on here – cabbage, small pumpkins and bittersweet stems. Moneywort finishes out the design as the spiller. Doesn’t it look festive for fall?