Winter Hanging Baskets

Winter Hanging Basket

Autumn is now upon us and now we should be turning our attention to our winter borders, tubs and hanging baskets.

Sometime over the next few weeks, we should be expecting a touch of frost to finish off the rest of our summer flowers. My garden is full of colour-laden tubs, troughs, hanging baskets and a scattering of frost-free ceramic pots. Without their cheerful influence, it will be a very dull place in deed. My house – Rose Cottage,  is currently on the market so this year I am going to pull out all of the stops and snub winter by injecting plenty of visual drama.

Plants for winter colour

The bad news is, the range of plants that you can use in hanging baskets and tubs to provide winter colour are fairly limited. There is still plenty of scope for growing different forms of old winter favourites, such as Pansy and Violas, Polyanthus, Cyclamen and Hedras. Here are just a few you could try:

Winter Pansies

A very reliable favourite for winter displays: tubs, borders and hanging baskets. Will flower non-stop for months on end, providing you remove spent flowers (dead-head) on a regular basis. You can even rejuvenate your pansies by cutting them back should they become straggly. A good mix to try is ‘Pansy – Universal F1 Mixed‘. Another really nice variety to try is the Pansy Banner Daffodil Mix – very colourful, forming bright balls of colour.

Trailing Ivy – Hedra

Ivy is great for bulking out foliage and adding the ‘hang’ to your winter hanging baskets, covering the undersides and providing a fresh summer feel to any winter display. You should be able to buy pots or plugs of ivy from your local garden centre. Try and pick the larger plants as ivy is slow to grow.

Hardy Primroses

Very winter hardy, will yield an incredibly bright splash of colour in the darkest months. Try Primrose Arctic Mixed for extra hardiness. They don’t grow to tall, so there not much use in hanging baskets. Plant them in borders or even window boxes for extra effect.

Cyclamen

There is something almost fairytale-like about this flowering perennial. A personal favourite. Pink, red and white flame-like flowers, followed by patterned ivy-shaped leaves. They do prefer shade though and can be planted in amongst the roots of a tree afterward. Try Cyclamen Hardy Mix for reliability.

Winter Bulbs

Snowdrops can be used in baskets and tubs for early colour. For later winter blooms, try Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses and Irises. Once your basket has finished, you can plant out the bulbs in your borders.

Prepare your winter hanging basket

Use a good multi-purpose compost and add water retentive gel and slow release feed to your mix. As with summer displays, line your basket with a fibrous fleece. Add an extra inner lining of wet newspaper to protect roots from frost damage. Place a saucer in the base of the hanging basket to act as a reservoir. Water every three days or so, or when you notice the compost drying out. I like to use a good John Innes compost mix for my baskets as it drains well and water will absorb rather than run off.

If you would like to know more about creating winter hanging baskets, take a look at this excellent video tutorial that I found: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-a-winter-hanging-basket.

Winter pansies & violas for your basket

Although some of these are not at there best during the winter months, they will at least put out a flurry of flowers:

• Pansy ‘Friolina Gold’ – Spring Varieties 2011
• Pansy ‘Friolina Mixed’ – Spring Varieties 2011
• Viola cornuta ‘Endurio Mixed’ F1 Hybrid – 3 for 2 seeds
• Pansy ‘Plentifall Mixed’ F1 Hybrid – Half-hardy Annual Seeds