Creating a Winter Container Garden

You may think that winter is a time to put away your containers and forget about gardening.  That's not true.  Even though the weather might be cold outside, you can still create some eye-catching container gardens.

First, start with a container that won't crack in the cold weather.  Fiberglass, metal, concrete, or even hollow logs work well.  Don't use ceramics, terracota, or thin plastic.

Choose plants and flowers that work well in colder weather.  Some ideas for flowers include winter pansies, violas, hellebores, and my favorites, cabbage and flowering kale.  The neat thing about the cabbage and kale is that the color intesifies, the colder it gets.  If you look at the purple cabbage above, you see what I mean.

For greenery, use annual grasses, new zealand flax, variegated yucca, dwarf deciduous hollies, and trailing ivy. You can also use evergreens.  Then, for a pretty effect, decorate with pinecones.

Water your container garden only when the soil is dry. 

Growing and Caring for Amaryllis

Amaryllis are those beautiful trumpet-shaped flowers you see around Christmas.  They can be found at your local grocery store or florist.  Red is the most popular color, but they can be pink, white, salmon, apricot, or rose.



When growing an amarylllis, select the largest bulb possible, because the amount of stalks and blooms relates directly to the bulb size.  Make sure your container is deep enough for good root development, and make sure it has good drainage.  The container doesn't have to be that big.  The diameter should be one inch larger than the bulb. Position the bulb so that at least one third of it is above the soil.  Press the soil around the bulb so that it is firm.  Then put in a warm sunny spot.  Do not fertilize until it begins to grow.


When buds appear, move the plant out of direct sunlight..  This will help prolong the blooms.  After the flowers fade, cut them off to prevent seed formation.  Do not remove the stalk until it has turned yellow.  The amaryllis needs a lot of sunlight after blooming, so be sure to put it in the brightest possible location inside.  Water when the top two inches of the soil seems dry.  Continue to fertilize.  When the danger of frost has passed, you can take your amaryllis outside, but start by placing it in the shade or indirect light.  Gradually, you can move it to an area where it can receive six hours of full sun each day.  Just be sure to bring it back inside before the danger of the first frost.

Children's Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

The Children's Garden of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, is two acres of fun for kids.  It's a collection of ten different gardens.  Some of the highlights are the Dinosaur Garden, where kids can dig up fossil replicas, a vegetable garden with an odd assortment of produce like purple tomatoes and polka dotted watermelons, and a Sunflower Garden, where in the summer months, kids can be watered by flowers in the sunflower fountain.

The garden is open from April through October, Tuesday-Sunday from 9-7.  Admission is $12.95 for children, and $18.95 for adults.












The Laugh garden where kids can learn all about butterflies



Soggy Bog where kids can get up close to wetland life and carnivorous plants

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

The Cleveland Botanical Gardens are the nation's oldest  gardens.  They were started in 1930, and cover over seven and a half acres.

The gardens include the Hershey's Children's Garden, which is the first public children's garden of Ohio.  It features a tree house, cave, dwarf forest, and herb garden.

The Japanese garden features a dry cascade with ornamental grasses, evergreens, and rock forms.

The Mary Ann Sears Swetland rose garden is especially beautiful.  It features over 50 varieties of roses.

The gardens are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5, and Sunday from 12-5.


Japanese garden



Mary Ann Sears Swetland rose garden

Canadian Butchart Gardens

The Butchart Gardens, located near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island, contains 55 acres of simply gorgeous floral gardens.

In 1907, garden designer, Isaburo Kishida, came to Victoria to build a tea garden for Esquimalt Gorge Park.  A prominent citizen of the area, Jennie Butchart, saw the garden and commissioned Kishida to create Japanese gardens for her estate.  In 1909, the suken garden was created, followed by a rose garden and Italian garden. 



Sunken garden


Ownership of the gardens remains within the Butchart family, but they are open to the public. The gardens are open every day from 9AM to 4 PM, except for Christmas, where the gardens open at 1:00 PM.  Admission prices range from $3.00 for children, to $29.00 for adults, depending on the season you visit.

Create a Winter Garden

When snow falls, that means the end of pretty gardens. Right?  Wrong.  With a creative mix of evergreens and winter flowers, you can still enjoy a beautiful garden, even in the winter months.

Use a few evergreens in mixed borders and beds for some height and texture.  One attractive combination is Elaeagnus pungens, "Maculata," with Hebe pinguifolia, "Pagei," in front.  Other attractive plants are rosemary, holly, and Heve x fransicana, "variegata."

Pretty winter flowers include Erica carnea "Myretoun Ruby," Cyclamen coum, and hellebores.


Elaeagnus pungens                                                                                                                 Hebe pinguifolia
                                                                                               
                                                                                                              
                         
  
Erica carnea                                                                                           Hellebores

Cyclamen

Cyclamen are plants that bloom and grow in the autumn and winter. Their bright green leaves and white, red,  pink, or purple blossoms,   make them a perfect addition to your winter garden.  There are many varieties of cyclamen.  The cyclamen purpuascens and cyclamen coum are a couple that are hardy in USDA zone 7 and above.









You may find cyclamen at your local florist or grocery store.  These are not hardy.  They are called cyclamen persicum, also known as the Florist's cyclamen.  You will see these on sale usually in the fall or winter. Here's how to care for your indoor cyclamen:  Water whenever the soil feels dry.  When the flowers begin to fade, allow the plant to dry out for two to three months.  The plant will go into a dormant stage.  New growth will appear in September.  When this happens, you can resume watering and feeding.  Cyclamens like bright, indirect light.  If you brought your plant outside, be sure to bring it back inside before the cold weather returns.