Fun with Winter Containers – Beyond Pansies and Cabbage

By Carol Miranda, Dunn Gardens Head Horticulturist

As the grey skies of winter descend and the fall colors fade a steadfast gardener has one last resort before turning to the armchair and seed catalogs: the winter container. While it would be quite costly and a long cold slog to fill the garden beds with winter color, a container planting offers a proper gardening fix without breaking the budget or one’s back.

After locating a good-sized container with plenty of drainage holes and a well-draining planting mix a trip to the nursery is in order. A few pansies and violas are a nice start but keep going; there are more treasures to be found in the perennial section; Coral Bells, hellebore and primula are good finds. Indeed, the Coral Bells - Heuchera and Wintergreen - Gaultheria procumbens, so often featured in the nurseries this time of year, are quite happy year-round in containers.

‘A Taste of Winter’ designed by Brian Roy

·Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’
·Gaultheria procumbens ‘Cherry Berries’
·Centaurea ragusina ‘Silver Swirl’
·Heuchera ‘Peach Flambé’
·Dryopteris erythrosora

The tree and shrub section yields up red twig dogwoods and small evergreen trees and shrubs. Don’t forget ground covers. That evil ivy looks lovely hanging over the side as long as it is not allowed to ever reach the ground and take root. And evergreen ferns are an elegant filler.

A few of our fun winter plant finds this year were:

• Helleborus x sahinii ‘Winterbells’
• Helleborus x lemperii ‘Katie’
• Senecio greyii
• Heuchera ‘Spellbound’

Helleborus x sahinii ‘Winterbells’ is the first ever successful cross between Helleborus foetidus and the Helleborus niger, something which was long thought impossible. The upright branching structure it takes from its H. foetidus heritage gives the delicate blooms the feel of hanging bells. It was named after its discoverer Kees Sahin.

Here Horticulturist Rose Tobin uses it with Heuchera ‘Fire Alarm’, Coral Prince kale, and an Amersfoort yew in a container that gets a fair amount of sun. The dark-leaved yew is a great backdrop for the other plants.

‘Winter Bounty’ designed by Rose Tobin
·Helleborus ‘Cinnamon snow’
·Helleborus ‘Ice and Roses Early Red’
·Helleborus x sahinii ‘Winterbells’
·Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’
·Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Arp’
·Vaccinium vitis-idaea ‘Koralle’
·Laurus nobilis
·Senecio candicans ‘Senaw’ Angel Wings®

Rose also uses the Winterbells hellebore to wonderful effect in this container planting she calls ’Winter Bounty’.  The broad leaved Angel Wings® Senecio is a great foil for the delicate leaved Koralle dwarf lingonberry and the sweet hanging hellebore blooms, giving the arrangement some heft.

The Helleborus x lemperii Winter Ballet series is from another cross which was once thought to be impossible, the Lenten Rose Helleborus x hybridus and the Christmas Rose Helleborus niger. The offspring have large colorful flowers and an extremely long flowering period, from November to spring.

A pair of Helleborus Winter Ballet ‘Katie’ shine in this arrangement put together by Horticulturist Brian Roy. The hellebores and a Heuchera ‘Carnival Watermelon’ add some interest at the base of this dramatic Rhododendron.

Low container:
Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’ x2
Senecio candicans ‘Angel Wings’ x2
Helleborous niger ‘Jesko’
Mid-height Container:
Senecio greyii
Fatsia japonica ‘Spider Web’
Selaginella krauss ‘Variegata’ x 6
Tall container:Heuchera ‘Delta Dawn’
Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’ (Evercolor Line)
Viola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Autumn Blaze Mix’ x2
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Fernspray Gold’

Senecio greyii, with just a touch of white edging on each leaf like a delicately applied eyeliner adds a subtle texture in the middle-sized pot in this container grouping also designed by Brian Roy.  Senecio greyii also known as daisy bush has yellow daisies in the summer. The leaf textures, subtle and bold, carry this design.  Another Janet Egger creation, Heuchera ‘Delta Dawn’, and Helleborus niger ‘Jesko’ add a touch of floral interest.

Winter Fun designed by Carol Miranda
·Heuchera ‘Spellbound’
·Helleborus ‘Snow Fever’
·Helleborus ‘Jesko’
·Dianthus ‘Mountain Frost Ruby’
·Primula ‘Bellarina Cream’
·Juncus ‘Blue Dart’
·Hedera helix ‘Glacier Round’

Heuchera ‘Spellbound’ was bred for Terra Nova by our own Janet Egger, board member and volunteer. Mt Cuba Center in Delaware says ‘Heuchera ‘Spellbound’ was by far the most striking cultivar in our trial’. https://mtcubacenter.org/trials/heuchera/heuchera-spellbound/

It is similar to another of my long-time favorites, also bred by Janet, the smaller Heuchera ‘Sugar Plum’ which has a similar color in the winter and silvery pink flowers in the summer.  Here Heuchera ‘Spellbound’ is front and center. The silvery violet tones complement the blue tones in the Juncus ‘Blue Dart’. The evergreen rushes are handy for adding a textural difference and an upright element. The bold leaves of the primula and hellebores fill in the planting just leaving space for the Mountain Frost Ruby pinks to pop up in the back and a little ivy to trail down the edge of the terra cotta pot.

And so, dear steadfast gardener, we hope you too have a bit of fun with a winter container before retreating to the fireside. Along with perusing your seed catalogs, dream ahead to redoing those containers in spring and finding permanent garden homes for the new perennials.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you Dunn Gardens for allowing us to publish this wonderful blog! To learn more about Dunn Gardens, go to their website  Dunn Gardens .