Winter Combo Pots
Choose winter hardy plants for containers that offer interest all winter long! The key is to choose evergreens, perennials, groundcovers and seasonal color that can last throughout our coldest temperatures in containers. If you typically plant tropical plants in your containers, and aren’t sure about planting evergreens and perennials in them, just remember you can remove and plant these shrubs and perennials in your landscape next spring.
For evergreen height, consider yews, hollies, camellias, boxwoods, junipers, arborvitaes and Alberta spruce; additional specifics on our favorites evergreens below. below. Surround evergreens with cabbage, carex, sweetflag, heuchera, dusty miller, ajuga and English ivy for filler. Add Cool Wave pansies for cascades of blooming color! For more fall and winter combination planter ideas, visit this blog post or our Finally Fall Pinterest board.
For a traditional pyramidal shape, consider Emerald Colonnade holly (pictured above). These broadleaf evergreens have been proven tough and hardy, during both the cold winters and hot summers we have had the past few years. The pair pictured has been trimmed into a spiral and we often have these on hand, as well as topiary spheres, but almost always, we have the regular pyramidal or cone shaped Emerald Colonnades. From the 3 gallon size up to the 30 gallon size, we have one for just about any container size. These are also great planted in landscape beds as well, which means if they outgrow your container, you can transplant them into a sunny garden location and keep them growing! They can be trimmed often and kept tightly shapes or trimmed less often for a more loosely pyramidal form.
Two decades ago, it felt like Dwarf Alberta Spruce was THE evergreen for winter pots! They all have a uniform Christmas tree shape, which makes finding matching pairs easy! They are also very winter hardy, and like other spruce plants, Dwarf Albertas don’t love our hot summers. Because of this, they often experience summer stress, so we suggest treating them as a winter annual. These are not expensive plants, making the change out to tropical ferns or other spring less hard on the pocketbook. And you can try planting them in a shady garden spot to keep them cool, they may grow there for a while!
Is your container in the shade most of the year? Don’t worry, you have options! One of our favorite evergreen plant choices for shady spots is a yew. The one pictured above is a Densiformis Yew, which is also known as a Dense Spreading Yew. When left to grow without trimming, it has a wide, loose form, similar to a tropical Kimberly Queen fern. For a space that needs a more slender, upright plant, Hicks Yew might be the way to go. They stay narrow and grow straight upwards. The needle-like leaves of a yew are a great contrast to many other leaf textures in shade garden, such as the heuchera (Coral Bells) or trailing Creeping Jenny, which is shown here grown as a groundcover at the base of the planter. The leaf color of yews is dark green with the new foliage a brighter green, which is fun and interesting as well. Last but not least, this is a soft plant, not stickery feeling like some true needleleaf evergreens like Junipers.
Another broadleaf evergreen for shade container gardens is Camellia. There are tons to choose from; the one above is a Yuletide Camellia which blooms fall into winter with these bright pinkish red blooms. Yuletide is a sasanqua camellia; sasanquas bloom in the fall or early winter versus Camellia japonicas, which bloom late winter to very early spring. Both are beautiful!
What else are we loving this year? Black Dragon Cryptomeria. It’s a wonderful, smaller growing crytpomeria; 6- 7 feet tall with a width of 3-4 feet. Ultimately, it may get as tall as ten feet but that would be a very mature plant indeed. This is very short needled evergreen with a loose pyramidal shape… very loose. We love that about it; gives it a natural look as opposed to a manicured symmetrical look. Like the yew, the new growth is a lighter green, and it’s called Black Dragon because as the foliage ages, it takes on a dark green, almost black foliage color. As you would expect, it contrasts well with heucheras, sweetflag, creeping jenny, dusty miller.
Last but not least, Horstmann Blue Atlas Cedar. The open form, the blue-gray needles, the smaller form (8-10 feet tall, 5-6 feet wide) of a landscape favorite… what’s not to love about this evergreen?! It has a mountain look, perfect paired with bright colors, and placed in woodsy, boulder accented landscapes. As with all of these evergreens, Horstmanns grow well planted in ground as well as in pots, just make sure to plant in a well drained spot with full sun. These don’t like to have wet feet!
When to Plant Winter Containers
Try to plant winter pots by the end of November so the roots get established before the weather gets too cold. For professional results, use the products that we professionals use! Good Earth brand Professional Growing Mix and Jump Start plus Ferti-Lome Premium Bedding Plant Food for pots that contain pansies or other cool season bloomers.
Watering Winter Containers
Don’t forget to water your pots this winter. Plants do not like to freeze dry; plant cells actually explode if they do, which causes visible and potentially deadly damage. Winter watering is especially important for containers located under covered areas; these are only getting the water you give them since rain won’t reach them.