Mid October

Ideas for Changing out Pots

Winter Plants that Work Better than Others

One of the toughest tasks for me each fall was changing out pots from summer annuals, that die when cold weather comes, to hardy plants with color. Most of us prefer to plant now for container plants that will last til the last freeze date in April. This is a challenge for you, the gardener, and your pocketbook.

Autumn pots lasting from October through Thanksgiving is one type of pot I love to create. Lots of oranges, brown, greens ….always greens for winter pots. Then I switch out some Autumn accents to a December holiday look. I couldn’t find photos of removing one type of accent (Thanksgiving) with December holiday accents with the same pot of plants.

The Pot and Soil in the Pot

First obtain a pot that is NOT ceramic but rather granite, cement, or resin. Lots of pots are on sale on-line now!

Move your ceramic pots inside and or empty them completely if you are leaving them outside. Replace the soil of pots that will remain outside with composted topsoil and a little bit of granular fertilizer.

Mums for the September to late October time of year are a big splash in color. Wait until temperatures are in the 70’s to buy and plant them. Blooms will last a lot longer in cooler temperatures. Be sure the plant spread is the width of the container. Think of creating a ‘full ‘ look. You do not have to add anything to the pot for mums which gives you time to think about the next planting.

After mums fade and start drooping, head for the nursery for more long term pot plantings.

Greens- the ‘backbone ‘of the pot.

Evergreen plants are the first plant that keep pots looking alive. They don’t freeze in the harsh cold winter.

A common evergreen that is used is the Alberta Spruce. Alberta Spruces fall into an affordable price range. Don’t count on them lasting into the summer. Alberta Spruce want to live in cooler areas like in their native spot of Canada. Red spider mites often invade the evergreen in the hot summers of Virginia.

Fall blooming perennial shrubs like the sesanquah camellia are lovely as an your evergreen accent. There is also a contorted camellia with squiggly stems which adds interest to the pot. Many Sesanquahs are blooming now. The red blooms from the variety “Yuletide” can last through the new year depending on the severity of cold temperatures. When you plant pots for summer you can move these from the container into a shady spot in the garden. It’s a lovely fall blooming addition to your garden beds.

Other evergreens include arborvitae, blue spruce, cryptomeria, pine, cedars and even boxwoods. The blue spruce is stunning and holds it colors well. All of these plants can be planted in the garden in the spring.

Smaller evergreens include poets laurel with their loose arching growth habit and surprising orange berries. The graceful plum yew prostata has a lower growth habit than the upright variety.

Buy these evergreens in 1 or 3 gallon size depending on the size of your pot and how many other plants and ornaments you want to add.

Perennials

Herbs like rosemary and thyme hold up wonderfully. I don’t have much luck using lavender in my containers in the winter. My lavender gets too much or too little water, or cold winds quickly turn the foliage brown.

Corkscrew rush adds an artsy touch. Be sure you don’t plant that in the yard after the winter. All ‘rushes” add a geometrical shape to your creation, but ‘rush’ is really invasive if you let it spread.

The red leafed perennial heuchera has never let me down in their hardiness. You can plant heuchera in your beds easily when you want to switch out your plantings in the spring. You can also keep your heuchera in the pot for the double duty of serving as a reddish leaf accent for your summer containers.

Lenten Rose also know as hellebores not only last the winter, but bloom white, purple or pink in late January thru March.

Variegated perennials include many of the Euphorbias which are stunning and have surprising variegated colors to add to an all green arrangement.

Erica is a colorful hardy perennial which is easy to transplant into the ground after it is enjoyed in a winter pot. It gets big and takes over a pot, so watch out for how big a plant you start with. Colors include white, pink and purple/blue.

Ardisia is a little used evergreen with red berries. These last all winter but I have found them unreliable to live after planted in the soil in the Spring.

Lastly the Autumn and Christmas fern serve as green and fluffy accent. They can also be the only thing planted in a pot and easily ‘hold their own’ through the colder months.

Annuals

Violas is a type of pansy with the smaller petals. The violas stay more perky than regular large petaled pansies in cold weather. Both type of pansies will lay flat in cold temperatures like 20 degrees.

Snapdragons are gorgeous and offer colors of red, pink, orange , coral yellow, and white. These along with violas add a dash of color and can be bought in small enough pots to allow a variety of plants to fit in your container.

Ornamental cabbage offers a large array of color and leaf types. Most look like a head of cabbage but others like lettuce. I love using cabbage in a pot however after time it droops and can start to look rotted which it probably is.

Embellishments!

Ornamental touches include Squiggly twigs or colorful ones like the red or yellow twigged dogwood.

Small gourds in an arrangement of a winter pot is a ‘can’t lose’ approach. Just a few plantings and the vibrant colors and shapes of small gourds and even larger pumpkins have their own unique look and can brighten up a corner on your porch.

Red, yellow and orange berries are offered online and in nurseries. Just be sure they are outside berries or the color will run onto the pot itself potentially staining it. You can’t find anything easier to add color to pots. Just stick them in the dirt as you see fit. Berries helped save me lots of times in the deep winter. They look fresh (because they are artificial) throughout the winter months.

Ornamental peppers are in nurseries now. They again have great colors of yellow, orange, red and even black. These last for months but can get killed with low temperatures.

Another embellishment and a cheap one, are pinecones! (I couldn’t resist showing you the pinecone trees in the middle photo.) Grape ivy in the 3rd picture lasts through the months with no care!

A lot of pots shown on-line now include grasses. I found grasses took up a lot of the contaiiner space so I rarely used them.

I think the red/green grass below is a great look in texture, color and growth habit. The red grass really has a pop in contrast with the white pansies. Tan or brown grasses can look bland in the days of deep winter.

Carex, a white and green grass also comes in a yellow green variety. They have a fluffy growth habit but even in a small plant but will get big in short time. Buy small.

There are so many great options! I hope this has helped stimulate some ideas for your winter containers. The most important thing is for you to have fun in the process of deciding and doing. It’s your pot and your effort in the end. Plant for the look you want!

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.