Autumn Empires

Don’t tell Audrey and Vivian Heredia that we have no change of seasons here. They’ll invite you to their homes and prove you wrong.

Better yet, visit the McCharles House Tea Room, their quaint Tustin restaurant, and you’ll encounter an autumn wonderland. Whimsical carved pumpkins on antique chairs greet you as you walk to the front door, which is covered with a rustic, handmade wreath created from fall garden prunings.

Inside the charming Victorian, you can sit among the antique furnishings and admire the fall arrangements that decorate the windows and fireplace mantel.

“We have a beautiful autumn here,” said Audrey Heredia, who co-owns the McCharles House with her daughter Vivian. “The changes here are more subtle than many areas of the country where it snows. It takes a more discerning eye to notice, but we definitely have a change of seasons.”

Many things change in the fall garden, agreed Vivian Heredia. “The air quality is more crisp right now--you can smell the leaves. And the colors in the garden have changed. In spring and summer you have carefree pastels, while fall garden colors are richer jewel tones like lush greens, grays and browns.”

Autumn is also time to clean up the garden. Rather than throw away the excess growth of summer, experts suggest gardeners use the bounty to create fall garden displays outdoors and indoors. By combining items from your garden with fall accessories such as pumpkins and gourds, you can create an autumn oasis.

Creating a fall look in your home needn’t be expensive, said Vivian Heredia. “With a little effort, creativity, patience and time, you can spruce your home up for the fall season.”

Start by incorporating some cool-season flowers, such as rust- and orange-colored dusty millers, red- and rust-colored mums, alyssum, scented geraniums, impatiens and ferns. Other good choices include herbs such as mint, Italian parsley, lavender and rosemary.

Pumpkins are an obvious addition at this time of year. At the McCharles House, they decorate the outdoors with carved and uncarved pumpkins, from small ones to some of 40 to 50 pounds. Besides the traditional orange, they use green and white pumpkins as well.

“When carving pumpkins, be creative and whimsical,” Vivian Heredia suggested.

Kits on the market enable you to carve shapes such as cats and spiders, into pumpkins.

Pumpkins can be put anywhere in the landscape, including on tables and benches, next to the front door, in window boxes and on windowsills.

The Heredias even use hollowed out pumpkins to hold containerized plants. They put the container inside the pumpkin and cover the top with green moss.

Pumpkins can stand on their own. They also look good with leaves or grouped with other autumn fruits and vegetables such as gourds, Indian corn, nuts, persimmons, pomegranates, Macintosh apples and squash.

Scarecrows add a fun element to the outdoors. Let your imagination run wild when creating them.

“Try making a little girl and little boy scarecrow and place them under a tree at a table,” said Vivian. “Or put a scarecrow in an old wheelbarrow with pumpkins and flower pots.”

A critical element of creating an outdoor autumn atmosphere is the lighting.

The Heredias use a type of white indoor-outdoor lighting found at home improvement stores. These lights can not only be used to decorate trees and porch railings but also can be wound around tree branches pruned from the garden or thrown on top of twigs and sticks strewn on the porch floor.

Luminarias also add magic to the season.

You can make them the traditional way by folding the top of a small lunch bag down three inches, pouring in two inches of silica sand and placing a white votive candle in each. Place the luminarias in strategic locations, including on the front porch floor and railing and in flower boxes.

For a more decorative look, you can make cutout shapes in the bags or use some of the ceramic luminarias available at crafts stores.

Autumn door wreaths create a nice transition from the outdoors inside. You also can make door wreaths and window treatments from materials found in the garden.

“It’s often unnecessary to purchase items for fall decorating, because you’ll usually find what you’re looking for in the garden,” Vivian said. “There is a bounty of things outdoors this time of year that make wonderful decorations.”

Audrey Heredia uses cuttings from plants that have grown a great deal in the summer and need pruning. The current front door wreath at the teahouse is made of grape vine, star jasmine, rose hips, wisteria and lavender.

To create a door wreath, Audrey begins with a base branch that serves as the main structure. She looks for a sturdy branch that has an interesting shape.

Pine tree branches with pine cones attached and liquid amber branches are two of her favorites. Pyracantha (watch out, it’s thorny) and Japanese maple tree branches also make good base structures.

Audrey attaches twining, viney plants to the base structure such as star jasmine, honeysuckle and grape vines, as well as plants with decorative berries such as heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) and California pepper (Schinus molle). Foliage containing seed pods also makes interesting additions.

Other plants Audrey uses for decorating at this time of year include rosemary, lavender, geraniums, liquid amber leaves, sycamore leaves and rose hips.

All of these can be used fresh when they are pliable and will dry well, creating a long-lasting arrangement. When the holidays arrive, spruce the wreath up with something festive such as cranberries.

Add autumn to your interior by creating centerpieces.

A simple centerpiece can be made by laying a branch on the table and adding candlesticks and other ornaments in between the leaves. Other good additions include pods, gourds, Indian corn, pomegranates, persimmons and pumpkins. Make sure to protect the table with something waterproof so that softer fruits won’t create a stain once they start to ripen.

You can expect store-bought items that have been preserved to last indefinitely, such as gourds and Indian corn. Uncut pumpkins will remain firm for a month or so, while soft fruit such as persimmons last only about a week; carved pumpkins are only good a few days.

Mantels can also highlight autumn decorations. Besides adding pumpkins, gourds and garden cuttings, you can use this space to highlight family treasures such as special Halloween pictures, precious statuary and antique tea cups.

Multicolored candles also set an autumn mood, as do red, burgundy and blue velvet fabrics and fringe shawls, which can be draped along the mantel.

“Decorating your home should be something you do for yourself first and then family and close friends,” Audrey said. “A vignette of family treasures on the mantel and a door wreath you crafted yourself will be something you marvel at and appreciate each time you pass it.”