As the weather turns cooler and wetter with shorter 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.
Also, 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. We also carry a bagged Container Blend, which is what we use for our own plantings.
Most hardy zone 6 plants will thrive in containers over winter in our area, and even with cooler temperatures they will need minimal maintenance.
They will, however, need to be kept moist, especially if the containers are under eaves or on covered patios or decks. The main winter issue is the degree of cold temperatures. Hardy plants in winter containers will do nicely down to about -8°C.
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 N-Sulate fabric that not only blocks the wind but also makes about an 8°C difference in temperature.
As soon as the worst of the cold is over, simply unwrap your container and store these materials away (they can be used many times over), and your pot is good to go unless it gets severely cold again.
Now, for the best winter container plants, here is a list of our favourites. Unless otherwise stated, plants listed prefer full to part sun.
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’
- Colorful heucheras – there are so many to choose from!
- Winter-flowering heathers – especially ones with gold foliage
- Colorful conifers like ‘Rheingold’ cedars and dwarf ‘Gold Thread’ cypress
- Dwarf Heavenly Bamboo (nandina) – newer varieties have bold fall colour
- Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’
- Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’ is tolerant of lower light locations
- Sarcococca – This evergreen shrub produces incredibly fragrant blooms in the middle of winter. Sarcococca is best in part sun to shade.
Berries:
- Wintergreen (gaultheria) – has bright red, white or pink berries depending on variety
- Deciduous holly
- Pyracantha – has orange, red and yellow berries. Pyracantha can be used as a focal point plant too.
Spill Overs:
- Evergreen grasses like Carex ‘Evergold’ and lime coloured ‘Everillo’
- Variegated ivy
- Evergreen hardy trailing sedums
Winter flowers:
- Hellebores - Larger containers would showcase these evergreen perennial bloomers very nicely. They are happiest in part sun to light shade.
- Violas and pansies
- Mini cyclamen
There is so much beautiful evergreen foliage available today, even without flowers these containers can be stunning.
If you’ve never created your own cool weather container before, you’ll be surprised how easy they are to make and how attractive they look all season long!
