(📸 MK Lascelle)
The pumpkins have arrived earlier than expected at the nursery this year, much in part to our long hot summer. So rather than waiting nearer to Thanksgiving or Halloween to make your purchase, why not get them sooner, which will leave you time to bedazzle them. No, I’m not talking about sequins or metal studs but rather a crown of natural décor that will make it worthy of any dining room table, mantlepiece or front door entrance. With that in mind, here are twelve easy steps to help get you started.
1. CHOOSE THE PUMPKIN
There was a time when your only option was orange or orange, but those days are long gone. Now you have your choice of shape, texture (warty or smooth) and a myriad of colours. That latter option is an important one to consider as the hue can really make or break your pumpkin décor and eventually you will have to choose from warty brown (‘Grizzly Bear’), two-tone (‘Blaze’), greenish-blue (‘Blue Doll’), white (‘Silver Moon’), tiered (‘Turk’s Turban’ or ‘Giraumon’), orange with green warts (‘Warty Goblin’), red (‘Rouge Vif d’Etampes’) or even pink (‘Porcelain Doll’). Of course, if you are unable to select just one, feel free to buy more.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
2. SIZE MATTERS
Where you plan to display your pumpkin is an important consideration when choosing which one to purchase. Even baseball-sized pumpkins come in quite a few colour options now, such as white (‘Baby Boo’), traditional orange (‘Wee-Be-Little’) and even bicolour (‘Mini Spark’). These are useful when decorating with children or when adorning small spaces such as a mantlepiece or side table. Larger pumpkins, such as the decorated red Cinderella Pumpkin shown, are ideal for Thanksgiving dinner centrepieces and can easily be utilized later to accent your front entrance.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
3. TOOLS OF THE TRADE
These are relatively easy to acquire, as most of us have a glue gun and some sort of light pruning scissors already. An old Lazy Susan also comes in handy, as the pumpkin can be placed on it and turned 360 degrees with ease. Depending on how tall you are, you also might want to have an old 2 or 3-gallon black nursery pot on hand, as these can be placed upside down on the Lazy Susan, bringing your soon-to-be beautiful pumpkin much closer to you.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
4. LIVE PLANTS
Now that you’ve got your pumpkins chosen and your tools at hand, you are ready to assemble the living decoupage. The best place to start is with Hens & Chicks or Sempervivum which come in a myriad of colours and are always sporting offsets. These baby plants can be nestled into a shallow tray of soil, where they will root and eventually be ready for your pumpkin décor.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
5. LIVING CUTTINGS
If you know in advance that you are going to be doing some pumpkin décor, then you can take cuttings of trailing Sedums (such as ‘Angelina’) or even indoor succulents such as Echeveria, Senecio or Crassula, many of which have fabulous texture and unique hues. You can simply snip these cuttings just before decorating to ensure that they are at their freshest.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
6. DRIED FLOWERS
My coworker, Teresa, has been harvesting strawflowers (Bracteantha) all summer from three stock plants she has tucked away in the back greenhouse. Similarly, my other coworker, Karen, has been cutting Statice blooms and storing them for pumpkin decoration and months later, the colours are still fabulous.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
7. PERENNIAL OPTIONS
Both these aforementioned coworkers have been haranguing me all summer each time I went to throw out some faded flowers that I had just pruned off perennials, but I have to admit that they were right because those salvaged blooms make for great pumpkin décor. Just a few of their favourites include Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis), Astilbe, Lavender, Yarrow (Achillea), as well as Rudbeckia and Echinacea seed cones.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
8. ASSORTED BOTANICALS
Even small pinecones (such as those we gather from the Scotch Pine at the back of the nursery), acorns and individual florets from dried hydrangeas work well, with PG types (H. paniculata) being very easy to glue with.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
9. PREPARE YOUR PALETTE
You can use either a shallow cardboard box or plastic nursery tray to assemble your plant cuttings, seeds, flower heads and cones before you start. This will help you choose your color and texture palette in advance, making things much easier during the more difficult glueing stage.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
10. LAYER FROM THE BOTTOM UP
You want to start by applying the longer lower pieces first, layering on top of them as you approach the pumpkin stem. This will give you a natural, seamless look.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
11. LOOKING GOOD FROM ALL SIDES
Use that Lazy Susan to make sure that your decoupage looks good from all sides. You can even undulate the plant material up and down or transition the color to some degree. Once you’re done, try looking straight down on the pumpkin, as any weak spots will become quite apparent from this vantage point.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
12. KEEPING IT FRESH
You can keep the living plant material such as sedums or Hens & Chicks fresh by giving them a light misting once a week.
(📸 MK Lascelle)
See, I told you it was easy. Now all you have to do is come down to Amsterdam Garden Centre and choose your pumpkins!
Copyright 2025 MK Lascelle
