Fall Decorating with Pincushion Bead Plants

While mums are well known for their autumn color and quite popular for fall decorating, there's another plant that can offer just as much in the garden, like loads of interest. The pincushion, or bead plant (from the Nertera genus), is an interesting mat-forming plant with small evergreen foliage and tiny white flowers that transform into bright orange berries. These bead-like berries cover the entire plant, making it appear much like an orange pincushion. It may also be known to some as coral beads or baby tears.

Pincushion bead plants make excellent additions to your fall décor, especially around Halloween. These soft-wooded evergreen perennials are well adapted to containers, where the foliage will eventually spill over the edges. They are, in fact, more suitable for potted environments where they can be easily overwintered indoors, especially in colder climates. If you're overwintering them indoors, you'll need to place them in a cool area with bright light. They'll require very little watering during this time. In regions with mild winters, pincushion bead plants can be grown or left outdoors year round.

When growing these plants outside, give them partial sun or shade-with bright, indirect light indoors. They need moist, well-draining soil (regular all-purpose potting soil works fine for potted plants) and monthly fertilizer. The plant also performs well when occasionally misted with warm water, especially in an indoor setting. Additional plants can be obtained through seeds or division.

I enjoy using these plants to decorate both indoor and outdoor settings. They make great additions to the table centerpiece when placed in a small pot (inside or outside). They're colorful in a border when used for edging. You can also strategically place containers of the pincushion bead plant in your outdoor Halloween decorations along with pumpkins, gourds, mums, hay bales, corn stalks, etc. They look good in hanging baskets too.

Wherever you want to add a little fall color, this interesting looking plant makes an excellent choice. It will continue to come back each and every year, bigger and better.

Resources: personal experience
Encyclopedia of Houseplants by Nico Vermeulen