These Outdoor Artificial Flowers Could Fool {Almost} Anyone!
May 19, 2026
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These beautiful, faux outdoor flowers are perfect for problem areas or non-green thumb gardeners.
So, I would say I definitely do have a green thumb...it's taken years of trial and error, but I can keep almost any plant alive inside or out!
But I've had a couple of problem areas over the years when it comes to the exterior, and both are on the front of our house. It gets full sun all day, so in the middle of the summer the plants are hammered with heat and sun.
Our established perennials do fine, it's the annuals that suffer in that mid-summer heat.
I'm not new to faux plants of course -- I've had quite a few over the years inside of our home. Until a few years ago, I had never attempted them outside.
Turns out, these evergreen topiary spheres on our front porch are still one of my favorite finds ever:
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We have the cypress versions and I LOVE THEM. They've saved us so much money on flowers from season to season.
I shared those fake topiaries five years ago and they still look brand new. They are out nearly year-round...the only time I take them out is in December when I put cuts from our evergreen trees into the planters for the holidays.
They also come apart, so if you have a smaller planter, you can just use one ball split in two.
The first summer or two, I had luck on my side and the flowers seemed to do pretty well all season. But the past six years or so, they start out stellar and then crash out.
I've tried everything...fertilizing, trimming, watering too much, watering too little. Usually by July they are scraggly and sparse, and there's no hope saving them. I love the look of them, but am so tired of throwing money away.
So this year I decided to try something new. I couldn't even believe I was going to do it...even as I ordered the first set of faux flowers, I thought they were going to look ridiculous. I figured I'd stick them into the dirt and just see how they looked. I could always return them!
I started with these artificial flowers in purple, pink and white. I pushed them into the soil and stood back:
And laughed out loud, because I really LIKED them. I stood back a few feet, liked them. Walked to the middle of the yard, loved them. They filled in our long window box beautifully!
I couldn't believe I put fake plants in my window boxes, and they looked GREAT. The set comes with a set of 12 bundles and I loved the variety with the cute little white blooms mixed in with the purple and pink.
This was late March, and I figured I had a few weeks to see how they held up.
Welp. I still loved them nearly two months later. They looked exactly the same as the day I "planted" them. 😂 My only issue (and it was a minor one), was that the blooms were a little small from far away. I wanted a bit more impact from the street.
So I did some searching and found these fake pansies in the same color way. The only (minor) issue I had with them is the leaves varied a bit too much for my taste -- some of them were a brighter, yellow/green color.
I grabbed my pruning shears (for real flowers) and started snipping:
The bundles were quite full, so they could handle a little trim.
I absolutely love how the two versions look together! You truly have to look close to see that they aren't real:
Both versions are supposed to be pansies I think, but they pass for petunias, right?
These also come in a set of 12 bundles, and yet again I just kind of stuck them in here and there:
I had my family come out to check them out and tell me if I was insane...but they agreed they looked really great. My husband has commented on them numerous times as we drive up to our home.
So far the first versions have been out in the rain and sun for two months...and still look brand new. I will keep you updated on how both versions hold up.
I'm THRILLED that I was able to purchase all of these for well under $40. I have a few tricks for saving on perennials, but even using those I would have put close to $100 into this nearly 10 foot window box for this summer:
We'll see how the faux flowers hold up season to season. The colors are so vibrant and pretty, even if they fade a little they'll still look great:
I was second guessing myself at first, but I'm so pleased with these, I just had to share them with you all!
Don't worry, all of the plants in the backyard are real...so far:
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