Want to make your yard pop this fall? Now is the time to get ready. “Marigolds will give you the best bang for your buck,” said Candy Duke, owner of the Blue Goose Garden Center. “They have a long life span, so if you plant them now, you’ll have color until after the first big frost. When you buy marigolds, it’s money better spent.”

Also topping Duke’s must have fall list are ornamental grasses, sun coleus and petunias.

“We also use a lot of asparagus fern,” she said. “It stays pretty through the winter.”

Fall vegetables such as ornamental cabbage and kale will be arriving on site next week, and once planted, provide a fantastic backdrop for pumpkins – just in time for Halloween, Duke said.

Shown: Duke’s son, Levi, arranges marigolds for sale.