This fall container garden is planted with Liriope “Silver Sunproof,” Osteopermum “Soprano Purple,” Nemesia “Bluebird,” Dusty Miller “Silver Dust,” ornamental kale “Song Bird Red,” ornamental kale “Glamour Red,” Calibrachoa “Superbells Red,” Lysimachia “Goldilocks” and ornamental pepper “Sangria.”

Fall isn't just for mums anymore.

Those round mounds of yellow, rust or purple are inadequate to celebrate luxurious falls — and ease a gardener's itch to plant something.

Now is the time to refresh decorative garden pots with a rich variety of color and hardiness that can carry their beauty beyond the first frost.

“Fall is a missed opportunity,” said Kerry Michaels, who writes about container gardening at about.com. “The plants are on sale; it lasts so much longer than a flower arrangement. And there is the sheer pleasure of being able to plant again.”

While mums still reign supreme in many gardens, other plants are gaining notice for their fall-like hues and texture.

“Gardeners still want mums because they offer that blast of color people want,” said Carrie Engel of Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, Md., which has more than 10,000 of the fall plants for sale.

But she has noticed a stronger demand for other varieties, too, especially heuchera, or coral bells, with foliage that ranges in color from peachy brown to burgundy red.

“I have only one person I plant mums for,” said Leigh Barnes of Companion Plantings of Towson, Md., who specializes in container gardens. “She was my first customer 20 years ago, and that's what she wants.”

But Barnes said she otherwise never uses mums in her containers. “And I don't like asters, either.”

She likes to do pots with perennials and create pockets for seasonal color. Barnes saves time and her customers' money by simply swapping out annuals that have the right colors and hardiness.

“The average person doesn't realize that they can plant for the fall and have beautiful color for a couple of months,” said Muffin Evander, owner of Cultivated Designs and a Baltimore County resident.

Michaels likes to use edibles, like sage, parsley or miniature peppers in her pots. She also likes to use succulents, which can morph into richer colors with the cold. And she uses oddball containers, too. Why just carve a pumpkin when you can use it as a fall plant container?

Barnes said to look for variety in leaf shape and color. She likes to break the mold with colors, too. She might create a fall container with burgundy, pink, silver and green.

Not orange and red? “That's what we have the trees for,” she said.

But every pot doesn't need to be filled with a dozen different varieties. A small pot filled with colorful lettuces can be lovely and simple. A trio of pots, each with a different variety of the colorful heucheras, can look elegant.

The “thriller, filler and spiller” design technique still has its place when creating a fall container garden, Barnes said.

A “thriller” plant has height and adds a vertical element. Consider an ornamental grass, for example. If the container is going to be viewed from all sides, plant it in the center. If it is up against the house and only seen from three sides, plant it in the back.

“Filler” plants generally have a mounding shape and are planted all around the “thriller.” Think about using a plant with colorful foliage instead of blooms, such as heuchera or sage.

“Spillers” are plants to drape over the edge of the planter, such as Creeping Jenny.

Plants aren't likely to grow much as the weather cools, so fall pot should be planted full.

“The great thing about fall is that everything is still available,” said Michaels. “And it is a great time of year to have fun with colors.”