The once splendid displays of annual flowers have begun to look frazzled and fried from the summer’s heat and lack of rain. Now is a good time to rejuvenate sickly plants and spindly beds by spending a few hours and dollars on your plantings. Here are some things you can try to turn that meager bed into a grand-prize winner later this fall.

Begin by pruning annuals and already bloomed-out perennials, followed by a good watering and feeding. Annual bedding plants produce flowers on the terminal ends of the branches. To keep the ends producing, the plant needs a continual supply of nitrogen. When the plants are stressed from heat and drought, the plant will protect itself by hardening the tissue, thus slowing new growth. Cutting the plants back halfway and feeding with a slow-release, high-nitrogen fertilizer will promote new tender growth and flowering. The plants may look a little rough for a week or two after pruning, but will come back more active and generate new flowers well into the fall. Extra blooming also can be promoted on perennials by cutting off the spent flowers, referred to as deadheading, for a bonus flush of color. This helps to extend the bloom period and removes the unsightly dead flowers.

Continue the “home improvement” project by filling the bare spots in the annual garden with perennials for an extended fall season. Purple, silver and gold is a great color combination, with just a touch of orange or red to bring out the pizzazz. Some plants to try are pansies and kale mixed with other foliage perennials. Fall-planted perennials can be moved in the spring to a more permanent location if you desire. Moving plants around the landscape is a norm for most gardeners. Since the perennials are being planted in the fall, there will not be substantial change in plant size before winter, but fall performance will last through November. The only concern is to provide good drainage and proper light.

Some other plant ideas to try are heuchera, or coral bells. These are a versatile choice with the gold foliage of amber waves, a cream-and-green variegation called green spice or the dark purples of amethyst myst and purple petticoats. Also consider helichrysum icicles. They produce slender spikes of silvery-green foliage to add height in small spaces. Ajuga and tricolor salvia add texture and variegations to the mix. A noninvasive plant from the clover family is trifolium, dark dancer. This round, 6-inch plant can be plugged in anywhere for interest and detail. It has dark, purplish-black, clover-like foliage with a narrow green margin around the leaf.

A small 12-inch grass added for a vertical dimension could be acorus. Choose either ogon, the green variety, or variegatus, a darker foliage. Lysimachia has a trailing habit with striking chartreuse color. Santolina, lavender cotton or any of the sedums are always a great addition. Do not forget the old favorite garden mum to add mass and bloom color.

Gardening does not need to end with summer. With a little work now, we can enjoy another entire season of garden blooms in the months to come.