Autumn annual planter. …

Autumn annual planter. I left the alyssum (purple/white) and trailing ivy at the bottom, but pulled out the finishing summer annuals to replace with these darker beauties. In the center is plectranthus, aka Velvet Elvis. Also purple, we have the dark ornamental peppers (Masquerade), which I haven't tried before. I think new ones may come in yellow and then shift to red, and then purple, which will be fine, I think. It's hard to keep yellow entirely out of an autumn garden, even if it isn't your favorite color ever. Hiding beneath everything is the flowering kale, which should grow larger and develop a dark pink center and purple rim. Another one I haven't tried before, but I've seen it look spectacular in city-planted areas, so crossing fingers. The celosia (Intenz, what a terrible name) is a little bizarre on its own -- that neon pink color looks somewhat unnatural. But I like the way it plays with the rest here. And my absolute favorite is this Pink Frenzy garden mum, which has a subtle-yet-bright combination of orange-pink that just made me stop still at the garden store when I saw it. I couldn't stop staring at it, so I had to bring some home.