Fall on the Front Porch

Well, it certainly has not felt like fall here in Tennessee!  We have been in a sweltering heat pattern throughout August and September.  I am confident that October is going to bring us some fall-like weather, though.  A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of a fall sale at our local big-box hardware store and picked up a few mums.  I haven't done a lot of decorating beyond hanging a wreath or adding a few large pumpkins to the front steps in years past because decorations are not noticed so much from the highway.  Now that our driveway comes right up toward the front of the house and curves around the side, I feel like a bit of curb appeal is needed. 

So, today I went to the local greenhouse and picked up a few pumpkins to add to the fall look on the front porch.  I spent almost two hours sorting through pumpkins and looking at colors and sizes and shapes in the sweltering heat that felt far more like the middle of summer than the first of October.

I really wanted to use some of those pumpkins that are UT orange.  So, I wound up getting a couple of pale Cinderella pumpkins, a couple of blue-green ones, and a smaller UT orange one to stack and form a topiary atop my clay pots that sit on the front porch.  I put them right on the top step.  Then, shifted the mums that are a yellow-orange color to the second step down.  I finished off the steps with two large orange pumpkins to reinforce the statement of the season. 

I got another large orange pumpkin to set on top of the large milk can that came from my maternal grandfather's house.  I  put a couple of small four-inch pots with more mums on the little table between the two chairs on the porch.  Another mum is nestled into a large basket surrounded by pine cones and sets at the base of the small milk can that came from Mike's grandparents that holds a fern on top.

The lavender and alyssum in the clay pots at the foot of the steps sort of anchors the look and I washed and dried the throw pillows that are on the porch.  Mike and I have even sat out here in the swing and watched the world drive by on a couple of afternoons when the temperature was below ninety degrees.  I smile each day when I'm traveling up the driveway and notice the friendly fall look - even though I've got the air conditioning blasting full force in my truck!