Fall Gardening -- Winter Container Pots

After the transitional planter pots full of mums and asters have bloomed out, it's time to start thinking about a winter display. Here is a short list of plants that do well in our fairly mild winters:

Ivy
Periwinkle -- or other Vinca varieties
Dusty Miller
Lamb's Ears
Evergreen grasses
Evergreen shrubs
Sedium (many varieties)
Wintergreen
Bungleweed or Ajunga
Smokebush
Coral Bells (many varieties)
Kale/Cabbage


In the photo above, I've used:

English Boxwood
Golden Japanese Sedum (bright yellow/green color)
Wintergreen
Ralph Shugert Periwinkle
Purple Kale

I've kept the plants small hoping they will have plenty of room to grow and blend into each other. These plants will add color and interest at my front door throughout the winter. I will need to remove the Kale come spring, but the other plants I can keep, and move the pot to my back patio for summer, where they will still thrive in the partial sun/shade lighting.
I found these plants at a local small nursery/garden gift shop. You will be hard pressed to find winter decorative plants at the box stores.
I am pleased with my plant choices :) The little wintergreen plant has pink bell flowers in the summer followed by edible red berries in winter. The green leaves are glossy and attractive all year. The sedum will provide a nice drape around the sides of the pot and the nearly fluorescent yellow color will be quite the bright spot during our drab winters. The periwinkle will provide showy blue/purple flowers in the spring.

I really enjoyed my visit to Greg's Gardens in Longview. It was a nice, quiet trip after a very busy week. I found many new plants that I will seek out in the future to build new container pots.

Happy Potting!