MY container tomatoes have blight, my summer bedding is bedraggled and all my pots are looking a bit forlorn – so there’s no better time to cheer myself up with some bright winter candidates.

Autumn and winter don’t have to be dull if you have a patio and some pots, because even a pot or two of dainty violas or a mixture of heathers and red-berried evergreens or coloured stems will perk up any outside space.

Autumn leaf colour can be spectacular if you plant one specimen Japanese maple in a pot, such as bloodgood.

Skimmia rubella can span three seasons, its fat red buds appearing in autumn and winter and finally opening in spring.

Plant it alongside ornamental cabbages and kales, whose leaves provide a rich tapestry of vivid purples and pinks.

When the sun becomes lower in the sky, arrange your pots in the sunniest corners near windows, where they can be seen from indoors and will provide mutual protection when it’s really cold.

Plant containers in autumn with at least one long-lasting scheme, including such stalwarts as heuchera, ivy and skimmia.

Seasonal accent plants, including heather and chrysanthemum, can also be slipped into the display and removed when you want to change the look.

When the first frosts arrive, faded heathers can be replaced by skimmia japonica subsp.

reevesiana, which will provide a profusion of red berries, while winter-flowering pansies and cyclamen will add colour.

Permanent plants in pots, such as skimmia and heuchera, are pretty tough and fairly tolerant of weather conditions. Autumnflowering chrysanthemums will bear masses of blooms in September, but need deadheading regularly to prolong flowering.

Contemporary brushed metal containers look great in autumn planted with deep purple or chocolate leaves of heucheras coupled with silver-leaved evergreens such as convolvulus cneorum. Other great specimens for contemporary pots include the tropical-looking fatsia japonica, with its gloriously glossy leaves.

Hanging baskets can be planted with an array of foliage plants which provide interest throughout the cooler months, including the Mexican orange blossom (choisya ternata Sundance), whose bright yellow leaves contrast effectively with the dark foliage of gaultheria mucronata, which bears brightly coloured berries in shades of white, pink, red or purple.