Year-Round Container Gardens
The best gardens provide interest all twelve months of the year. In the spring and summer, gardens are full of color with bright, cheerful bulbs, pastel spring-flowering trees, vivid, multi-colored bedding plants and striking perennials; while fall gives us shades of yellow, gold, orange, red and purple with the changing of the season. Winter, too has its attractions, and with a little planning, container gardens can give us color and variety, even during the bleakest months of the year.Many plants are suitable for winter container gardening. The best choices include evergreens, shrubs with berries, those with contorted branches or interesting bark and buds or later winter-flowering shrubs. These plants remain in the containers for year-round interest, while bulbs, annuals and perennials can be switched out for colorful seasonal interest.
When planting containers for all-season interest, frost-proof pots should be your choice. This includes fiberglass, polyethylene, and structural foam planters. These pots resist winter damage, insulate to help regulate the soil temperature, retain moisture better than porous pots and are also lightweight. Plant containers as you normally would, following good horticulture practices. Be certain to give your pots shelter from the prevailing winds and water your plants when needed to keep roots from drying out. To water, check the soil moisture when temperatures rise above 40 degrees and add cold water as necessary.
Listed below are various selections to jazz up your containers for year round interest:
Evergreens...
Buxus (Common Boxwood)Pinus (Dwarf and Semi-Dwarf Pines)
Thuja (Dwarf Arborvitaes)
Juniperus (Dwarf Junipers)
Tsuga (Dwarf Hemlock)
Picea (Dwarf Spruces)
Taxus baccata (English Yew)
Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’ (Golden Japanese False Cypress)
Pieris Japonica (Japanese Pieris)
Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)
Microbiota (Siberian Cypress)
Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper)
Sciadopitys verticillata (Japenese Umbrella Pine)
Deciduous...
Amelanchier arboreo (Downy Serviceberry)Fothergilla gardenii (Dwarf Fothergilla)
Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick)
Ilex verticillata ‘Nana’ (Winterberry Holly)
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ (PeeGee Hydrangea)
Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster)
Late Winter/Early Spring Accent Plants...
Helleborus (Christmas and Lenton Rose)Primrose
Ajuga
Violas or Pansies
Crocus*
Snowdrops*
Dwarf Iris*
Ivy
*Plant these bulbs in fall for winter flowering.
