It is time to plant up pots to brighten up winter and spring. Although there is still some colour in the garden, that won’t last much longer and now is the perfect time to plant up some pots that will look bright all winter and into spring. Even if you can’t pack your borders with colour, concentrating your interest in a pot by the front door is an effective way to create a cheerful display you will enjoy every day.
For me, the main plants are small evergreen shrubs. These are not expensive to buy and, next spring, you can carefully remove them and plant them in the garden where they will increase in size over the years. Skimmias are a popular choice for their colourful flower buds but in the pot above I chose a variegated Pittosporum tobira, which is slightly tender. It is fun to match the plants to the container so in this silvered pot I also added a white cyclamen, white water heather and bold bergenia as well as a silver calocephalus.
For larger pots you can use phormiums and nankin and in this pot I added some cut red stems of Cornus alba – which actually rooted and sprouted in spring so were planted in the garden. Colour here is provided by a vibrant cyclamen and pink Erica gracilis. These ericas are not hardy and rarely last into spring but then you can pull them up and replace them with pansies or violas.
In winter, the main problems for plants in pots, are winter wet and, in cold spells, the compost and roots getting frozen. So only use pots that have drainage holes so the compost does not get waterlogged. You can use multipurpose compost but I prefer to use a mix of this and John Innes No 3 compost to sustain growth and retain nutrients through the wet winter.
To prevent the compost from freezing and damaging roots, you can line the pots with plastic. As compost freezes it will expand and that can crack your valuable pots. If you line the pots with bubble plastic you not only protect your plants but your pots.
Make sure you do not cover the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. Then fill with compost and plant.
You can pop in spring-flowering bulbs around and under the plants for extra colour. Be creative and have fun combining plants.
Weekly reminders
Bring tender plants such as cannas and pelargoniums into the greenhouse to protect them from frost
Lift and dry gladiolus corms
Sow sweet peas for flowers next summer
Cut down autumn-fruiting raspberries when they have stopped cropping
Clear away old veg plants to remove hiding places for snails and slugs