It’s easy to fall into the fast fashion of trending holiday decor every year, with autumn being no exception.

But most of what you see in stores is very similar to what you can do organically at home: wheat stalks, corns stalks, acorns, autumn florals, hops, even pumpkins can all be grown right in your own garden and are ready for harvest around August-October time frame.

Here I go into a basic guide to help you challenge the fast fashion of home decor by growing your own right at home with seeds, plants, and other items that help with a ‘natural’ decor set up.

Let’s Dive In:

Growing Your Own Natural Autumn Decor

In a nutshell, natural autumn decor includes the following:

Pumpkins, Gourds, Winter Squash
Wheat stalks
Dried flowers, Herb Bundles
Autumn blooming plants
Garlands with Hops and Grapevines
Corn, Acorns, Pinecones, Feathers
Garden Harvests like Onion/Garlic Braids, Bowls of Garden Veggies or Fresh Picked Apples
Other household items like transferware, ceramics, antique crocks, natural candles, natural ribbons, etc.

There is an emphasis on these items being real and even natural to the parts of the country you live in (desert versus woodlands, for example).

In contrast, natural autumn decor does not include foam pumpkins, plastic flowers, oddly colored branches, goofy feathers, or metallic leaves (to name just a few).

Natural autumn decor does make you embrace the environment that you live in naturally, which is great because most of what they market as ‘autumn’ decor can be grown in your garden or foraged in your backyard.

If you don’t have a garden, finding these same items listed above at farmers markets are becoming easier and more accessible in price.

But please note that since it’s for decor you usually don’t need to make much space for these plants since a few of each will suffice (except room for pumpkin vines to roam of course)

So, adding a few seeds with intentions of harvesting them for decorating is usually doable for anyone.

Seeds to Grow for Natural Autumn Decor

Most of the seed varieties listed were found at Annie’s Heirloom Seeds, and Park Seed Co.

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are the pinnacle of autumn decor, simply because they are ready for harvest come late summer and stacks of pumpkins curing on the porch is a very normal thing to do.

Very best part of pumpkins is that most of them are meant to stored long term to be winter food, giving you the bonus.

Here are some great decorative pumpkin seeds to look into:

Red Warty Thing
Cinderella
Jarrahdale
Musquee de Provence
Flat White Boer
Marina de Chioggia
Hungarian Blue
Queensland Blue

These are just a few! There are tons of pumpkins to explore.

All of these provide great color, texture, and shape while still being edible.

Gourds

Along with pumpkins, gourds are the second most recognizable autumn decor item.

What is so fun about growing gourds at home is that fact that they are usually a mystery in their shapes, sizes, and colors (with exceptions to carefully saved seeds, of course).

Plus, most gourds are edible for homestead livestock and store for long periods of time.

Here are some seed varieties of gourds to try:

Lunch Lady
Apple Gourds
Crown of Thorns
Dipper Gourds
Bottle Birdhouse Gourds
Speckled Swan

Wheat

If you are growing wheat for bread, you need a large space of land dedicated to it.

But if you are growing wheat for decoration purposes, just a packet of seeds will do.

Homegrown Wheat is a fantastic way to avoid using any mass produced, fast fashion home decor items because it will last for years if stored properly.

Wheat seeds to look for (often found under ‘grain’ categories):

Black Emmer Wheat
Black Tip Wheat
Common Oats
Brilliant Quinoa
Red Fife
Spelt
Turkey Red

Don’t’ let the grocery stores fool you, there are tons of wheat varieties out there!

Dried Flowers & Hanging Herb Bundles

Dried flowers are becoming more available at huge box stores now a days, but they end up charging a big price tag for them.

Growing and drying your own floral arrangements is one of the easiest and cheapest things you can do for your home and gives you a great opportunity to be creative.

Homegrown herbs can also be hung up and used as ‘decoration’ while they are drying too, especially if you make a creative hanging spot for them.

Here are Flowers that do very well drying, that you can grow at home:

Strawflowers
Hydrangeas
Bells of Ireland (they turn cream colored)
Sunflower heads
Marigolds
Cockscombs
Yarrow
Ranaculus
Bunny Tail Grasses

Here are Herbs that do well being hung dried in bundles:

Lavender
Sage
Thyme
Oregano
Mints
Lemon Balm
Feverfew

To name just a few.

Fresh flowers (more than mums)

Having some flowers in your garden that do well in the autumn months will give you a chance to have fresh cut flowers for a long time.

Although the vegetable may be dying back, usually there are some shining faces from annuals and perennials in the garden that will hold out until the first hard freeze.

You can even plant small mums or herbs in small pots and place in a sunny window.

That fresh sight of green with only add to the joy and intention of your decor without it looking forced.

Here are some flowers to think about for autumn blooms:

Marigolds: African Crackerjack, Lemon Gem, Sugar & Spice (white), Tiger Eyes
Sunflowers: any variety other than mammoth or giant ones will bloom for a long time
Black Eyed Susans
Echinacea
Late Season Hydrangeas: Limelight, All Summer Beauty, Dragon Baby
Nasturtiums
Zinnias: any kind
Valerian
Cosmos (any color)
Mums (of course)

Again, to name just a few.

Hops, Grapevines

In terms of making garlands and wreaths, both hops and grapevines are the best way to make natural autumn wreaths and garlands.

They are both huge plants that can take up a lot of space on a mantle or a door without looking contrived.

Even wild grapevines can work at making wreath or garland bases.

Any grape varieties will do, and Hops seeds can be found online here at Annie’s.

Corn Cobs & Stalks

Another, very recognizable autumn decor item is corn.

Great thing is that you only need about 10-15 plants to have a successful crop (not enough to save seed from, but plenty to harvest enough for decor and a few bites of eating)

Popcorn, cornmeal corn, and dent corn are the types of corn that will give you all those beautiful colors.

Sweet corn dried is also beautiful, but sweet corn is the best option for corn stalks since they get so tall.

There are tons of corn varieties out there that include some great colors. Here are a few:

Strawberry Popcorn
Blue Hopi
Bloody Butcher
Oaxacan Green
Painted Mountian
Glass Gem

Garden Harvests

Don’t ever overlook what a bowl of freshly picked fruit or vegetables can bring to the table.

Fresh onion braids, garlic braids, jars of homegrown herbs, basket of fresh eggs, a stack of freshly canned foods, bowls of local apples can bring a sense of comfort and rejuvenate you in the kitchen.

The sense of security of having food visible (on the table or countertop) can even lessen stress in the home for both children and adults.

Plus, you just spent hours during the summer tending to the garden, the final reward is to see it in full fruition and ready to serve you and your family!

So, integrating your harvests into your ‘decor’ (as temporary as it may be) is a great way to get a natural autumn feel in your home.

Miscellaneous items

Other household items that can contribute to natural home decor:

Lace ribbon
Old Jars
Baskets
Linens (no plastic tableclothes)
Old books
Old ceramics and transfer-ware
Small terracotta pots

Secondhand pieces are best since they will hold a more unique feel.

Video of how I applied natural home decor to my own home here:

That’s It!

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list since autumn looks different in different parts of the globe and I can only pull from my personal experience from living in the north.

However, a little intention during spring planting can really go a long way come autumn.

You may even ditch the trendy stores altogether after seeing how beautiful homegrown and natural decor can be!

Enjoy!