Carry your garden designs, especially container gardens, throughout the entire year with outdoor winter arrangements.
We welcome spring with pots of tulips (Tulipa spp.) and pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) on our decks. We enjoy hanging baskets of fuchsia (Fuchsia x hybrida) and million bells (Calibrachoa x hybrida) on our porches during summer. We put planters of mums (Chrysanthemum –Rubellum group) and pennisetum grass (Cenchrus alopecuroides) on our stairways to stretch the season through autumn. Let’s continue to use the same containers to brighten our cold winter months!
I’m a container gardener, so my deck becomes a jungle by summer’s end. Unfortunately, I must relocate most of the containers to facilitate snow removal. Only three pots remain year-round because they are much too large to move. These are never bare: annuals are tucked among the perennials during the growing season. Evergreen boughs replace the fall colors in mid to late November, remaining until spring when the potting mix thaws.
First, examine the containers. Storing pottery or terracotta containers is best so they do not break in freezing temperatures. Plastic or metal pots require plenty of drainage holes to survive the winter without damage. Do not remove the plant material from containers that you used all season! Just cut off and compost the annuals at the soil line. Are there perennials in the container? If they are tall, like my ‘BlackJack’ sedum (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Black Jack’), trim them down to 3″. I do not trim the coral bells (Heuchera x villosa ‘Caramel’) or the low sedums (Sedum kamtschaticum ‘Variegatum’ now known as Phedimus kamtschaticus ‘Variegatum’). Do you have hanging baskets? Keep the root mass in these containers, too! Compost only the stems. Do you have a new container? Add a dense potting mix, irrigate thoroughly, and let the potting media settle well before adding evergreen stems. Using an existing container with a root mass provides better support for the stems that will bear the weight of snow.
Next, follow the method for decorative containers: thriller, filler, and spiller. A thriller grabs your attention. It could be branches with bright berries or decorative seasonal accessories. Spillers are often evergreens that trail (spill) over the pot’s side. Fillers are everything in between. These include additional evergreens, brightly colored twigs, natural or painted cones, and seed pods.
As you gather materials for the winter arrangements, do not overharvest from one tree or shrub. A big branch won’t grow back and may not fill in! Avoid short-needled evergreens, especially eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), because they drop their needles quickly.
Do not collect berries and seed heads from invasive plants. For example, birds will spread oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) throughout the area. However, I love the prickly dry flower heads of non-native teasels (Dipsacus fullonum)! They are sturdy and give texture to dry and winter arrangements. I take care to tap out the dried seeds where I harvest them. I don’t want birds to plant these biennials in my neighborhood. To add a bit of insurance, I spray the flower heads with clear acrylic or paint before I add them to the outdoor arrangement.
Here are evergreens that I enjoy using in outdoor winter arrangements:
- boxwood (Buxus spp.)
- false cypress (Chamaecyparis spp.)
- holly (Ilex spp.)
- red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- spruce (Picea spp.)
- pine (Pinus spp.)
- yew (Taxus spp.)
- arborvitae (Thuja spp.)
Here are twigs, berries, and seed pod stalks that I enjoy using in outdoor winter arrangements:
- milkweed pods (Asclepias )
- false blue indigo (Baptisia)
- beautyberry bush (Callicarpa americana, C. dichotoma)
- bittersweet, native (Celastrus scandens)
- teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
- winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata)
- iris (Iris)
- bayberry (Morella pensylvanica, also known as Myrica pensylvanica)
- cones (Pinaceae family)
- red twig dogwoods (Cornus stolonifera, C. sericea, C. alba, also known as Swida)
- yucca (Yucca filamentosa)
Don’t be surprised when you look out the window and see eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) feasting on the berries in your design. You have provided them with a delicious treat! Smile and tuck in a few spare branches the next day.
A final suggestion: Be aware that the potting media in the outdoor container will freeze, and you’ll be unable to change the arrangement as the winter season progresses. If you want to use a Santa Claus accessory, wire it to a stick or piece of bamboo. Swap it out for a red cardinal, a snowman or snowflake, a valentine heart, or even a shamrock. You can celebrate many holidays with the outdoor arrangement until the potting mix thaws in spring. Between the beginning and end of your outdoor winter arrangement, remember that they gain beauty with a sprinkling of snow!
Author
Mary Jo R. Gibson
Master Gardener
Columbia County
