Go a little potty and you can have a bright, cheerful autumn
YOUR dahlias and nerines may still be going strong, but if other annuals in pots are past their summer best, there’s a huge range of plants that offer stunning autumn colour, says Hannah Stephenson.
“The colour you can get crammed into a pot, or a small collection of pots, at a time of year when some of the days are drab and difficult, can really lift your spirits,” says horticulturist Tom
Harris, author of
bridge that gap between late summer and autumn. Plant them as standalone specimens because they don’t sit comfortably with many things. They are fairly short lived, but if you love colour, they deliver that.
the hardy autumn-flowering type, will brighten up any pot, in shades from white to pink and red, adding pops of colour to other autumn evergreens including heucheras. These hardy cyclamens should persist into winter.
come in a huge variety
CHRYSANTHEMUM
CYCLAMEN HEDERIFOLIUM,
VIOLAS
of colours, but place them on a table or stand where you can see them, not on the ground. Deadhead regularly and you will get many flowers and quite a punch of colour from not many plants.
are perfect for a lightly shaded corner, and the foliage of these evergreen perennials is stunning, from acid greens to chocolate hues. Favourites include ‘Marmalade’, with deep amber foliage, while the dramatic, deeper burgundy hue of ‘Chocolate Ruffles’ contrasts brilliantly with orange hued violas or cool, white-flowered cyclamen.
HEUCHERA
SKIMMIA JAPONICA,
an impressive evergreen shrub often forms the centrepiece or backbone of autumn and winter container displays, with their deep green evergreen leaves and shiny red berries. If you’ve only room for one, go for reevesiana, which is self-fertile.
tucked among other plants, they will pop through and you can enjoy them for a couple of weeks. Colchicums have bigger flowers. You can buy the bulbs now and they should be flowering within weeks.
AUTUMN-FLOWERING CROCUS