15 ideas for colour in containers
Lynda Hallinan’s pick of the bunch for easy winter colour.
Psychologists reckon it takes at least 21 days to break the habit of a lifetime, but it took 33 days in lockdown to change my ways. I’m not ashamed to admit that I visit a garden centre most weeks, whether to pick up punnets or packets of seed, or to check out the new plants on offer. At level 4, that ended abruptly and, strangely, so did most of my gardening activity.
I started doing less, not more. This surprised me because I thought I’d get a lot more done – especially as my husband was at home the whole time. But while he busied himself building a tool shed, I cleaned and cooked and made lots of excuses as to why I wasn’t weeding my vege beds or pruning back all the perennials that had suffered during the summer drought.
When I regained my gardening mojo, I sowed rocket, coriander, bok choy, beets and broad beans – but what I really wanted to plant was flowers, and you can’t grow a quick crop of any of them.
When garden centres reopened, my first purchase was three bags of tulips. Again, I surprised myself but ignoring the classy white and pastel pink varieties I usually plant in favour of two bags of ‘Irene Parrot’ (a ruffled blend of orange, green, yellow and red) and one bag of ‘Menton Unique’ (a double tulip in rose pink and apricot with green streaks). On my second trip out, I splashed out on a hodgepodge selection of – yikes! – variegated plants and potted colour.
What has happened to me? I have an idea: when your life (and garden) feels out of control, it’s satisfying to go back to basics. I’ve found myself seeking out old winter favourites – pansies, polys, Iceland poppies, calendulas, cyclamen and frilly kale – to plonk into pots and easily manage. So, while most of my garden is a mess of mud, fallen leaves and frost-bitten perennials, these new container combos are a cheerful distraction. And after the year we’ve had, we need that more than ever.
1
Plant instant potted colour or punnets of
seedlings around bulbs in containers to extend the season of interest. When planting pansies, plant the whole punnet, rather than separating out the individual seedlings, for a fuller display.
2
Make more impact for less money by planting up salvaged containers.
An old copper with a coat of patina is the perfect planter for clumps of cyclamen and frilly ornamental kale.
3
In a large garden like mine, my favourite plants are ones that look good year-round without asking for anything in return.
HELLEBORES – also known as lenten and winter roses – are top of the list in winter, as these hardy perennials with exotic flowers and handsome foliage come into their own when everything else is looking dreadful. They’re beautiful en masse in the shade of deciduous trees or as a single specimen in a fancy pot. New hybrids this year include ‘Hannah’s Blush’ and ‘Isabella’s Charm’ (in the Living Fashion range at garden centres). Enjoy indoors in bloom for up to three weeks before planting out. In areas where hellebores don’t fully die down, give them a haircut in the first week of May to remove the old foliage before the new buds emerge.
4
Curb the enthusiasm of natural born spreaders such as alstroemerias, mint and Japanese anemones (pictured above with lilac gladioli) by containing their roots in a large pot.
To brighten up a drab corner, pot up pansies and violas in dozens of standard terracotta pots lined up along wooden crate shelves.
Now is not the time for fancy-pants food crops that don’t earn their keep, like gourmet goji berries, yard long beans and witloof.
STICK TO THE BASICS when planning and planting for the winter ahead. The crops that did our grandparents proud will do us proud too. Sow fat-stalked ‘Fordhook Giant’ silverbeet (pictured) or its milder, slender-ribbed cousin ‘Perpetual Spinach’ by the row, along with beetroot, carrots, kale, cabbage, ‘Champion Purple Top’ swedes and turnips. If you still want to feel a bit flash, opt for more colourful varieties of these classics, such as the candy-striped heirloom ‘Chioggia’ beet, ‘Rainbow Lights’ selection of Swiss chard (which has psychedelic stems and leaves in hot pink, bold red, gold and orange), ‘Purple Dragon’ carrots and ‘Golden Ball’ turnips.