Nothing says summer like a garden full of vibrant, beautiful flowers. If yours is not as lush as you'd like it to be, here are a few tips for next year.

Purchasing fast growers, installing large plants early in the season and maintaining them with a few tricks of the trade will help even novice gardeners become keepers of mature-looking gardens that seem to have popped up overnight.

For instant gratification, the best plants to choose are annuals and tropicals. Annuals will reach maturity in one growing season and will flower constantly throughout the summer. Tropicals can last more than one season if the gardener overwinters the plants inside as houseplants or lets them go dormant in a basement or garage.

Many of the following plants will flower from the end of May through the beginning of October. Though we have been trained to think that "quick grower" is a descriptor for invasive plants, these plants are not invasive in Pennsylvania because they are not hardy.

Sweet potato vines 'Margarita,' 'Blackie,' 'Ace of Spades,' 'Sweet Caroline,' 'Ivory Jewel' and other cultivars are terrific additions to any garden. A colorful trailing annual, sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) can be used in hanging baskets, containers and at the front of borders. A 4-inch pot planted in May will grow to more than 8 feet in length by the end of the season.

Cannas are grown for fabulous foliage and brightly colored flowers. A rhizome planted at the end of May will turn into a 6-foot plant by midsummer. Foliage colors range from bronze and black to blue-green and even variegated. Flower colors include any combination you can imagine -- red, orange, pink, yellow, white and bicolors.

Though the initial investment in cannas is not large, you can really get your money's worth if you save the rhizomes from year to year by overwintering them in a basement or garage. A single rhizome can grow into a large clump in just a few years.

Cardinal creeper vine (Ipomoea horsfalliae) twines its way up whatever is in its way, and its scarlet flowers attract hummingbirds. Vines started from seed in the spring will reach more than 12 feet in length by the time they are killed by frost in the fall. This vine will twine up through trees and shrubs and will also follow trellises and arbors.

Sunflowers are known for being fast growing; a seed started in June will reach heights of 6 feet within a month or two.

Coleus (Solenostemon) are fabulous plants with foliage of many colors but insignificant blooms. Great new coleus cultivars include 'Molten Lava,' 'Tilt-A-Whirl,' 'Inky Pinky' and 'Black Dragon.'

Butterfly bush (Buddleia) is a shrub that is cut back to the ground each year but grows to more than 4 feet high and as wide each season, making it perfect for the back of the border. Its sweet scented flowers come in blue, purple, pink, white and even yellow.

Lantana is an annual that attracts butterflies because its flowers, usually yellow, are a nectar source. By the end of the season, it will resemble a spreading shrub.

Two taller choices for the back of the border include celosia 'Kramer's Amazon,' with dark foliage and magenta flowers. And there are hundreds of hybrids of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, the quintessential tropical flower that grows quickly into a small tree.

Purchasing larger-sized plants will mean your garden has more maturity at the beginning of the summer. Buying plants in six-pack containers is definitely more economical. But when there is the option of buying the same plant in a larger pot, the impatient gardener should go for it. Many home improvement stores offer large hibiscus and palm trees for $10-$20 during the summer months. These plants could serve as the backdrop or as the structure for your container plantings.

Once your garden is installed, a few things can be done to promote quick growth. Mulching will reduce weeds and retain moisture in the soil so that you have to water less frequently. Choose a leaf mulch or compost for best results.

An application of fertilizer every two weeks will also enhance your plants' performance. Deadheading (removing flowers as they finish blooming) and pinching growing tips to encourage branching are two important tasks to increase the vigor of garden plants and the number of flowers produced.