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I’ve finally got round to sorting out my pots which had some very sad looking summer bedding in them still and nagged at me every time I went past them on my way into the house.
This is also a good thing as now I have done them I feel happy every time I go past.
So definitely worth spending an hour to sort them out and add a bit of colour to greet me through the winter months.
I’ve tried to follow a sort of colour theme with some bright and cheery yellows of tete a tete, mini Narcissi Daffodils bulbs planted under the variegated Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold; Heather; a mini Spider plant and some little plain yellow Violas which are my favourite winter container flower for their ability to flower continuously.
Then in another I’ve gone for whites, purples and greens in the form of white Cyclamen; purple Violas; a mini Buxus (box) and Sedum, planted on top of some Muscari (grape hyacinth), which will peek through in the Spring.
Winter salad/herb pots
You don’t have to limit your winter containers to pretty pansies. Keep a pot by, for planting up with a mix of salad leaves for use through the winter months.
Try an oriental salad mix or rocket; mizuna; parsley; chervil or red chicory which will all add to perking up any winter salad.
Positioned not too far from the back door, it will make it easy to pop out for some without having to venture to the veg patch. They may need to place a fleece over the top of them to tuck them in and protect them on the colder nights.
Bare Root Roses
Still time to buy some bare root roses, this is the most cost effective way of buying roses and even if your ground is not ready for planting them it is still worth buying them as they will do no harm just being ‘heeled-in’ until you are ready to plant them.
This just involves burying the roots in a trench of soil/compost mix temporarily not properly planting.
When you are ready to plant them, prune to shape, cutting above an outward facing bud and trim the roots…this will encourage new growth.