As the weather turns cooler and wetter, with fewer hours of daylight, wouldn’t it be wonderful to brighten up your patio with some great colour?
Enhancing our patios with colourful containers is easier than you may think. You just need to be both creative and strategic.
First, the containers: There’s a great selection out there but avoid clay and cheap ceramics as they can crack with heaving frost. Well-fired frost-resistant ceramics are fine, as are zinc, resin and well-made plastic containers. As well, size matters. As a rule of thumb, the larger the container, the better the plants do, simply because of the bigger soil mass. For a great look, try grouping the planters together and, if you can, varying the heights.
Soil is a key issue in fall and winter. Open, porous, well-drained soil is a must. Regular potting soils hold too much moisture and that tends to rot roots.
Your best bet is to get a quality potting soil and add a third measure of fine fir or hemlock bark mulch. This is essentially a nursery mix which is ideal for all fall and winter plants.
Most hardy zone 6 plants will thrive in containers over winter and with cooler temperatures will need minimal maintenance. They will, however, need to be kept moist, especially if the containers are under eaves. The main winter issue is the degree of cold temperatures. Hardy plants in winter containers will do nicely down to about –8C. Lower than that, they need protection.
A couple of tricks that work nicely are keeping them out of cold winter winds and wrapping them with insulating materials, like the new N-Sulate Ultimate Series fabric that not only blocks the wind but also makes a 10° difference in temperature. As soon as the worst of the cold is over, simply store these materials and your pot is good to go unless it gets severely cold again.
Now, for the best winter container plants...
FOCAL POINTS
Columnar Irish yews, ‘Green Spire’ euonymus and ‘Sky Pencil’ Japanese holly
Red and yellow twigs and ‘Midwinter Fire’ bush dogwoods
Funky conifers like cryptomeria ‘Cristata’ and Golden Hinoki cypress
ACCENT PLANTS
Evergreen euphorbias like ‘Ascot Rainbow’
Colourful heucheras - try ‘Dark Secret’
Winter-flowering heathers — especially with gold foliage
Colourful conifers like ‘Rheingold’ cedars and dwarf ‘Gold Thread’ cypress
Dwarf Heavenly Bamboo (nandina) — has nice fall colour
BERRIES
Wintergreen (gaultheria) — has bright red and white berries
Deciduous holly
Pyracantha — has orange, red and yellow berries
SPILL-OVERS
Evergreen grasses like Carex ‘Evergold’ and lime coloured ‘Everillo’
Variegated ivy
WINTER FLOWERS
Violas and pansies work best
Mini cyclamen
ADD-ONS
Contorted willow or filbert stems
If you’ve never created your own cool-weather container before, you’ll be surprised how easy it is and how attractive they look. There is so much beautiful evergreen foliage available today, even without flowers these containers can be stunning.
