Welcoming winter pots

Plant up containers now to create a cheering show, using flowers, foliage and scent, at the front door throughout winter, says Hazel Sillver

Hazel Sillver

IN the bleak depths of winter, a colourful show of pot plants brightens the spirits. Whether it’s troughs of dwarf irises around the front door or large pots of bright-red dogwood on the patio, containers of winter plants inject much-needed colour – and they can be planted now.

Flowers are usually the stars of the show and many provide vital nectar for winter-foraging wildlife. Some – such as the buff-tailed bumblebee – are increasingly seen during the colder months, as a result of climate change.

Even butterflies (including the red admiral) can sometimes be spotted hunting for food in the winter sun. They adore heathers, such as ‘Katia’ (white) and ‘Furzey’ (pink), and will feed on hellebores, aconites, and snowdrops, all of which can be grown in small pots. Pollinators will also take nectar from the beautifully scented yellow flowers of mahonia – a large shrub that can be enjoyed in a big container.

Foliage plants

Other winter-flowering shrubs for a large pot include Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and Lonicera fragrantissima, which fill the air with a heady scent. Underplant them with low-growing flowers, such as violas, and show the flowers off with a variety of foliage.

Foliage plants provide color, structure or aroma, and some – such as the dwarf pine Pinus mugo ‘Winter Gold’ and the dwarf juniperJuniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ – produce all three. The claret elephant’s ears Bergenia ‘Bressingham Ruby’ complements the blue grass Festuca glauca Intense Blue (‘Casblue’) and the amber leaves of Libertia ixioides ‘Goldfinger’.

Group containers together

Use frost-proof pots to prevent cracking or opt for wooden containers that help to keep plants warm. Grouping containers together will also help to raise the temperature by creating a microclimate. Ensure the containers have drainage holes to prevent winter damp rotting the plants and further enhance drainage by mixing compost with grit.

If planting up containers to give as Christmas gifts, choose a festive scarlet pot or opt for festive plants, such as the holly Ilex aquifolium ‘Golden van Tol’, which has golden and green leaves and red berries. In the barren, grey days of winter, such colourful plants seem like miracles and warm our hearts.

How to plant

• Use a pot with good drainage. If there is one large hole in the base, add pieces of broken pot to the bottom to prevent the compost washing out.

• Use a multi-purpose organic compost or, if the plants are going to stay in the container for a long time, opt for John Innes No3.

• Plants can be placed closer together than in a summer container, as they grow slowly in the cold. There is also less need for watering in winter.

9 winter plants for pots

For foliage