7 top plants for a burst of colour in autumn and winter

Do you often neglect your garden during autumn and winter? Pledge to make a change this year, as choosing the right plants can keep your outdoor space looking fresh and colourful – even when the temperatures drop.

September is actually a great time to plant; the soil is still warm and there should be enough rain to get everything bedded in. To keep that wonderful exuberant summer colour in the garden, we'd go for a mixture of autumn-flowering plants such as sun-loving Chinese plumbago, a wonderful shrub with cobalt blue flowers. You can mix these with orange Helenium autumnale 'Salsa' to keep the spirit of summer going.

Further into autumn, colour is a bit trickier to come by, but the shrub Aster x frikartii 'Monch' will provide stars of lavender blue with bright yellow centres. And try to find room for winter-flowering camellia; these bring unexpectedly exotic flowers at Christmas time – Camellia x vernalis 'Yuletide' is particularly lovely. They do need acid soil though, so you may have to fill your outdoor plant pot with ericaceous compost.

In addition to our suggestions above, we spoke to the garden experts at BillyOh.com about the top autumn flowering plants to grow in your garden. Whether you're a novice or experienced gardener, these plants will help to make your green areas thrive. Some of these tough little plants and shrubs can survive the changing weather and brave the cold and wind to bring a splash of colour and brighten breezy autumnal days.