Summer is coming to a close. The garden containers you have been enjoying since May may be getting tired. It is time to brighten them up.

When you are shopping garden centers, the fall plants that will likely catch your eye will be chrysanthemums, asters and flowering cabbage and kale. Any of those plants – either by themselves or in combination – will provide color almost until the snow flies.

But you don’t have to limit yourself to these traditional plantings. Coleus would provide a lot of color. You could chose any long-flowering annuals like snapdragons or fuchsia. Ornamental grasses would provide interesting texture.

You don’t have to throw out all of the plants that have been in the pots since spring, either. If some of them look good, just pull out the those that have stopped flowering and replace them with something fresh.