Happy Friday, GPOD! Halloween is tomorrow, so for our last post of the week, I couldn’t resist digging through past GPODs for a little spooky-season garden inspiration. Over the years, contributors have shown us that Halloween decor doesn’t have to stop at the front door. A foggy morning can turn a familiar garden wonderfully eerie, homegrown pumpkins can become an entire cast of characters, and flowers and foliage from the garden can transform simple gourds into works of art. Today we’re revisiting three very different Halloween displays that all have their own charm and appeal.
We’ll start in Hebron, Kentucky, with Keri Shinault’s perfectly spooky garden. Keri and her husband, Brandon, began hosting an annual Halloween masquerade after their October 2005 wedding, eventually decorating their home and garden with creepy critters, ghouls, headstones, and plenty of other spooky surprises.
A beautiful sitting area surrounded by lush plants becomes instantly more mysterious when fog blurs the garden beyond.
Sometimes Mother Nature provides the best Halloween special effects.
Sit a while! Take a load off those tired bones.
Stepping stones set into lush ground covers guide you around massive oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia, Zones 5–9) shrubs.
Next up are Tom and Jeannie Tremont’s delightfully ridiculous pumpkin people. Rather than simply lining the porch with gourds, Tom and Jeannie turned their pumpkins into an entire cast of characters with their own poses, props, and personalities.
Why settle for a jack-o’-lantern when your pumpkins can go for a bike ride? Tom and Jeannie turned their fall harvest into a whole cast of characters, complete with wheels.
Tom and Jeannie Tremont clearly weren’t interested in ordinary jack-o’-lanterns. This pumpkin person looks like they got caught with their pants down while a family bikes by in the background. It’s ridiculous in the best possible way.
The mama-and-baby pumpkin pair might be the sweetest of the bunch. Even commenters on the original GPOD singled this little duo out as a favorite.
We’ll end with something completely different from Cherry Ong in Richmond, British Columbia. For her dazzling pumpkin display, Cherry repurposed the pallet-wood auricula theaters she and her husband had built for spring into a stage for decorated pumpkins and squash.
Auricula theaters traditionally protect auriculas (Primula auricula, Zones 3–8) from harsh rain and wind, but Cherry discovered they make a pretty spectacular fall display too.
Cherry and her husband built these pallet-wood auricula theaters a couple of years earlier—he constructed and hung the boxes, while Cherry designed and stained them. In fall, the shelves get a totally new look when pumpkins and gourds take the place of spring flowers.
Cherry had a little fun displaying the smaller pumpkins before giving them away, using old mini terra-cotta pots to add height and variation. Some pumpkins were decorated with seasonal flowers and foliage from the garden, turning the whole theater into one big botanical arrangement.
A small white pumpkin topped with clusters of Chinese tea rosebuds shows just how detailed Cherry gets with these creations. Elsewhere in the display, she also incorporated dried dahlias and other flowers and foliage from the garden.
I love how each of these gardeners found a unique way to bring Halloween into their outdoor spaces. That might be my favorite thing about Halloween in the garden: there really aren’t many rules. You can go creepy, silly, beautiful, botanical—or somehow all four at once. I hope everyone has a happy Halloween tomorrow! If you’re decorating your garden, porch, containers, or homegrown pumpkins this weekend, I’d love to see what you come up with.
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