Rosy's Winter Pots

During December we tend to have lots of plant material in our homes. Come January our homes and gardens often appear and feel empty and gloomy.  Yet there is still lots of flower, colour and form which when potted up can be an effective way of brightening our external window sills, balconies, doorsteps and patios.  

Rosy has designed 2 winter pots which can be planted up in January to bring cheer and instant impact.  These pots contain plants which are comfortable with outdoor winter conditions.  

Pot 1 has a defined front and back making it ideal for a container which stands by the front door, against a wall or nestled amongst other pots. Pot 2 could stand alone on a patio or beside a path where it might be viewed from all sides. 

Pot 1:  

Pot no. 1

The plants in this container are :

1. Carex comans bronze-leaved  x 1

Native to New Zealand, this attractive evergreen sedge forms compact dense clumps of gently arching bronzed narrow leaves that almost skim the ground.  Attractive seed heads form in late summer increasing the frothy effect.

2. Dryopteris erythrosora x 1 

A semi-evergreen fern, often with attractive coppery-pink fronds when young and pink spore-heaps. As the fronds age they turn dark green. 

3. Helleborus × nigercors 'Emma'^PBR   x 2

Erect stems stand above the green-grey foliage, bearing large outward facing, saucer-like white blooms which age to pink and then green. Flowering from late winter into spring this evergreen Hellebore is happy to grow in sun or light shade.

4. Helleborus (Rodney Davey Marbled Group) Illumi Lime ('Epb 24'^PBR) (Frostkiss Series) x 2

An evergreen perennial with large, dark green leaves with white marbling and lime green nodding flowers in late winter/early spring.

5. Heuchera 'Green Spice' x 2

'Green Spice' produces green flower spikes during the summer however the main attraction is the foliage. Decorative silvery green foliage is overlaid by prominent burgundy veins which stretch out from the dark centre of the leaf.

6. Ipheion uniflorum 'Hardy's Hybrid' x1

'Hardy's Hybrid' has pale lilac blue, honey scented star-shaped flowers in late winter and early spring over blue-green grass-like foliage. 

Pot no.1 Print a copy of the plan and key The pictured pot is approximately 38cm wide.

Planting plan for Pot no.1

Planting tips.  

Remember that when using a planting plan like the one above you can either increase or decrease the number of plants you put in your pot depending upon its size.

It is fun to experiment, so make sure you try a few different arrangements before you finally commit to planting your pot.  Rosy often places the plants into the pot while they're still in their pots and arranges before planting.   

In the container below Rosy has removed the grass as detailed in the plan for planter 1.  This time she has made the middle of the pot the main focal area by using an evergreen fern, Blechnum spicant  the Hard Fern.  You can see that by swapping just one plant and moving things around you can alter the whole look. The rest of the pot is planted with the same plants as outlined at planter 1. 

Pot no.2

Once winter is over you can deconstruct the pot, relocating plants to borders or gardens. Or you can move the pot to a semi-shaded location during the summer, bringing it back to a more prominent position next winter.