Several businesses within the East Montgomery County Improvement District’s boundaries have fallen into the season, decorating shrubs and bales of hay to match the “spooky” season as well as providing that perfect fall foliage fit for any type of yard.
Warren’s Southern Gardens, located at 1675 Northpark Drive, bursts with fall colors with handmade fall planters, unique pumpkins and a few, specially decorated hay bales welcoming customers.
For owner Bernice Warren, the fall and the winter seasons are always the most exciting especially in Texas because the temperate weather allows for longer color with annual plants.
“Spring always comes, but this is our exciting time with all the fall colors, which is more than just orange and yellow; we have red, maroon, purple and other new colors that welcome each fall season,” said Bernice.
To launch residents into the fall season, Warren’s hosts a pumpkin patch kick-off every year at the beginning of October to which Bernice says is like “planting a seed with our customers,” a main tenet of the business.
“Our customers are very important to us as an independent, family-owned garden center,” said Bernice. “With our annual pumpkin patch that we started in 2009, we have customers that have come every year and now, they bring their children. It’s always about planting seeds which is perfect with this annual event because pumpkins do have a lot of seeds.”
To share the fall spirit with others, Warren’s recently donated two bales of hale to a local early education school and pumpkins to a nonprofit for a painting party.
Every year, Warren’s adds to their grounds, which now includes walkways for strolling through the flowers, a new shopping area and more services. For this fall, they even have a few specially created pumpkins – some wearing masks and others filled with succulents – to add to fall décor.
“We hope more residents in East Montgomery County will learn more about us and visit our location which is ever-changing,” said Bernice. “Several of our main focuses are supporting our community and educating our customers, too. We want them to be successful in their gardening, which is good for your health. Our employees are great and very passionate. We encourage our customers and residents to be creative or let us help showcase your yard with our services.”
Additionally, a couple of businesses along the U.S. Highway 59 northbound feeder road have used their blossoming horticultural skills to decorate for the Halloween holiday including MDN Enterprises and New Caney Recycling.
At MDN, a large bushy tree sits outside of its building that seems to have come to life, complete with eyes and a mouth where a pair of legs appear to stick out of, perfect for the approaching Halloween holiday. Not far from MDN, New Caney Recycling decorated several hay bales with orange pumpkin faces.
When asked about the hay bales, an employee stated they often have people stop to take pictures with the bales and they change the decorations along with the season such as a Christmas-themed hay bale and red, white and blue hay bales for the Fourth of July.
Also getting into the fall spirit, employees at Buster’s Brew Coffee and Deli, located at 20126 Loop 494 in New Caney, painted pumpkins throughout the week to bring inspiration to young painters expected to attend their pumpkin painting party on Saturday starting at 8 a.m.
The pumpkin painting party is free for anyone and will have pumpkins of all sizes displayed on a table along with paint where guests can pick their own masterpiece and take it home with them when they are done.
According to employees, they will kick off the weekend of Halloween celebrations with a Costume Contest on Friday from 6-8 p.m. where guests can also enjoy $1 cappuccinos.