Plant a few edible and decorative containers for fall

End the growing season with an extra burst of color and nu­trition with a few fall contain­ers. A pot of mums or asters can add color to your front steps and a container filled with kale and greens adds fresh flavor to your fall meals. But don’t stop there. Create attractive potted gardens by combining asters, mums, grasses, cool weather edibles and other fall beauties.

Spruce up an existing con­tainer by replacing weather worn annuals with fresh fall fa­vorites. Pansies, sweet alyssum and dianthus are just a few annu­als that hit their stride as cooler weather returns.

Or plant new container gar­dens for your fall landscape. Just select a pot with drainage holes and fill it with a quality plant­ing mix. Or upcycle items like a wicker basket, small bushel basket, wooden crate or galva­nized tub into a fun fall planter. Just add drainage holes before planting. Or scoop out a pump­kin and set a pot of pansies or ornamental peppers inside.

Use ornamental grasses, kale, black-eyed Susans and Swiss chard for vertical interest. Com­plement your plantings and con­tainers with garden art, gourds, mini pumpkins and berry-cov­ered branches. Add a mum or aster for a vibrant surge of color.

Include some trailing plants like golden moneywort, trailing lobelia and ivy. Fill any voids with snapdragons, ornamental peppers, colorful greens and coral bells. Just be sure to pro­tect peppers and any other frost-sensitive plants on those chilly nights.

Grow a container of Bright Lights Swiss Chard, colorful leaf lettuce and pansies – the flowers are edible – for an at­tractive and edible combination. Make your fall centerpiece an edible part of your gatherings. Fill a metal colander or basket with red dragon arugula, red mizuna mustard, red sails let­tuce, bull’s blood beets and other colorful greens in a metal colan­der or basket for your outdoor gatherings.

Test your container designs while shopping. Grab a cart and gather the plants you would like to grow. See if the colors and tex­tures work well together. The bold leaves of plants like orna­mental cabbage contrast with the fine leaves of ornamental grasses to create a focal point. Repeat colors from the flowers or leaves of one plant to another to unify your planting. For ex­ample, use a purple aster or pink mum to echo the colors of deco­rative kale, pansies or the color­ful leaf stems of Swiss chard.

Set containers on the front steps as a colorful autumn wel­come. Group several containers together for a garden of con­tainers to display on the deck, patio or balcony. This collection of container gardens is sure to brighten your day when relax­ing outdoors or enjoying the view from inside the house look­ing out.

Go one step further and cre­ate a stunning autumn display by combining fall planters with gourds, decorative squash and pumpkins. Use corn stalks or broom corn for vertical interest or as a backdrop. Then include bales of hay to elevate a few of the pots and pumpkins for multiple levels of fall beauty. Dress it up further with sprigs of American bittersweet, grape vines and other fall décor.

A few fall planters can go a long way to help celebrate the transition from summer to win­ter. The last blaze of color will warm you as the temperatures start to drop.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books. Myers’ website, www.MelindaMy­ers.com, features gardening videos, podcasts, audio tips and monthly gardening checklists.