The cooler, overcast and even rainy at times last few days have been great. I finally managed to get out and work on a new flower bed, and enjoy it for a change. While I was outside ‘playing in the yard’ I began to think of what I wanted to plant this fall. My mind began to wander, and before I realized it, I was visualizing the final flower bed preparation, the plants in it and in bloom. The excitement is steadily building.

It’s simple to create beautiful, artful blends of plants for cool season gardens. With a little imagination, you can plant or sow seed for stunning combinations that will bloom from fall into spring. Try something new this fall. Introduce at least one new plant or add a new color of a familiar plant.

Most of you are familiar with the most common cool season plants. The ever-changing variety of alyssum, dianthus, dusty miller, ornamental cabbage and kale, and pansies, are staples as edging and container plants and are perfectly beautiful with the taller snapdragons or calendulas in the background or center of a bed.

How about adding a few additional plant varieties for a new twist. Foxglove, hollyhock and delphinium add height and color to the spring pageant. Set out transplants through mid-November and give individual plants ample room to really strut their stuff.

The old fashioned Johnny-jump-ups or violas (the ones that look like miniature pansies) are increasingly difficult to find in garden centers each fall although they are always an attention grabber. Direct sowing seed for these cuties is an easy alternative. Most of the time plants will reseed on their own the following year. Many new hybrid violas are available today. Although they are wonderful, the good old Johnny-jump-up always out performs the modern selections, hands down.

Larkspur is truly spectacular when it blooms. Usually sometime in April, tall spires in colors of white, pink, lavender, blue and purple make a breathtaking display that’s sure to draw attention. If you’re looking for the most bang for the buck, larkspur is the ticket. Easily direct sown October through mid-November, this annual delphinium will come alive with color sometime in April. If seed is left to mature, the plants usually volunteer the following fall.

An added benefit from most of these plants, is that they are as at home in the garden as they are in the flower vase. Harvest blooms to use in arrangements. Trust me, you’ll look forward to more next year. Try some new plants this fall and don’t forget that it’s a great time to incorporate many perennials into your garden.

Early spring flowering bulbs are a fine addition to a long term landscape plan. Select varieties which have been proven to naturalize in your particular area. Narcissus and daffodil varieties are only a few of the many tough bulb plants that you may want to experiment with in special areas.

The light is changing, temperatures are lower and we’ve had a little rain in the Miss-Lou. I don’t know about ya’ll, but I feel like gardening.

Gardening Miss-Lou Style is a weekly column written by Traci Maier of Fred’s Greenhouse. Please send your comments and questions to Gardening Miss-Lou Style, c/o The Natchez Democrat, 503 N. Canal St., Natchez, Miss., 39120 or by e-mail to ratmaier@iamerica.net.