As fall finally settles in, it's time to dress up your hearth and home, as well as the front porch, with harvest-themed bounty in the burnished colors of the season. Visiting a local patch for pumpkins is practical and fun, but did you know you could grow a lot of the materials used in autumnal decorations for a fraction of the price found in stores? Plan now to plant a craft garden in 2016, and next fall you'll have an abundance of beautiful natural materials on hand for artsy projects throughout the year.
Many of these plants can be grown from seed, although a few are sold as plants in some garden centers/online. Like the edibles in your veggie garden, these plants all need well-drained soil amended with compost, occasional fertilizer, adequate water and ample sunshine, at least six to eight hours a day. Follow directions on seed packets for sowing times and days to maturity for harvest. Most will need warm soil temps for best germination.
Great grasses and grains
You don't need a farm to grow ornamental grains like wheat, millet and amaranth. Their seed heads contribute a unique look while growing in the garden and enjoy a second life as floral specimens once dried. 'Black Tip' and 'Silver Tip' wheat are especially popular for dried arrangements and crafts. 'Purple Majesty' millet is the standard for ornamental millet, but equally beautiful are 'Jade Princess' and 'Highlander.' Amaranths are distinguished by trailing blooms, such as old-fashioned, deep-red 'Love Lies Bleeding,' or newer types like tawny orange 'Hot Biscuits.' If used indoors, you may want to use a light application of floral fixative or hair spray to keep them from shedding seeds and chaff.
Gorgeous gourds
It's easy to grow an array of gourds, from small-fruited green, gold and orange varieties (Halloween-ready with warts and wings) to bulbous birdhouse types, from seed. You'll have better results if you train gourds up some kind of support to keep them off the ground and free of blemishes that can cause rot. A trellis or tepee will work for this. Some folks grow gourds over arches made of livestock fencing, to stunning effect. It is important to harvest the gourds before the first frost. Let them cure in a warm, dry place for a week. Apply mineral oil, furniture wax or clear sealer to enhance the color and shine, as well as to help preserve the gourds.
Amazing maize
Indian corn comes in many solid colors and combinations thereof: purple, blue, dark red, green, gold, yellow, black and white. Some varieties dry with shiny rounded kernels, such as 'Bloody Butcher,' while others have duller sunken kernels, like dent corn. One cultivar is so beautiful it has its own Facebook page. Peel back the husk of 'Glass Gem,' and reveal a jumble of translucent, rainbow-colored kernels. While most Indian corn can be ground into flour or used for popping, most would agree they are too pretty for that purpose.
Technically not corn but sorghum, broomcorn forms sprays of seed heads in bronze, gold, red or brown that can be made into wreaths and swags. As the name implies, broomcorn was once used in broom-making.
Striking seedpods
Be on the lookout for unusual seedpods, but grow some intentionally, too. You can't beat the starburst shapes of giant alliums once they are done blooming. Order those bulbs now to have them bloom next spring. Poppies are notable for the rosette-topped round pods that appear once the flowers fade. Okra is becoming more common in northern gardens, not to mention that the dried, horn-shaped pods are unusually interesting. Water gardeners are advised to grow lotus, not only for the huge, exotic blooms but also the space alien-like seedpods. While some folks prefer the natural coloring of seedpods, they can be spray-painted in any color imaginable to suit your mood or project.
Plants to dye for
Colder days and nights bring out the knitting basket. Plant-based dyes create soft, nuanced shades of yarn that synthetic dyes can't reproduce. You can plant a dedicated "dyer's garden" or incorporate annual and perennial dye plants within existing beds and borders. Among the possibilities: For yellows, try tansy or marigold flowers. For greens, leaves of spinach, mint and camomile. For reds/purples, dark-colored hardy hibiscus and hollyhocks. For blues/purples, raspberries, blueberries, red cabbage, purple iris and bachelor buttons. For orange, carrots, onion skins. Some natural dyes need a mordant like alum to enhance and set the color.
Seed sources
• Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org)
• Johnny's Seeds (johnnyseeds.com)
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. (rareseeds.com)
• Native Seeds (nativeseeds.org)
Rhonda Fleming Hayes is a Minneapolis-based garden writer who blogs at thegardenbuzz.com. She is the author of "Pollinator-Friendly Gardening: Gardening for Bees, Butterflies and Other Pollinators," due Feb. 1, 2016; available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
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