Early October, I let my potted plants die and leave them in their pots for an element of neglect on the front porch.

I also let the chrysanthemums fall over and dry out. Grass plants do the same. We don’t bother blowing away the oak leaves that start covering the mulch. It makes the house look newly abandoned, and it’s eerie when the dying plants sway in the breeze.

If some leaves and dying plants don’t do it for you, it doesn’t hurt to stick skeletons in the ground, either.