One of the great things about September is the cooler evenings following great daytime weather.
It’s the beginning of a new season and a perfect time to refresh our patio colour, especially after the heat of summer has taken its toll on many of our annuals.
The many beautiful chrysanthemums now available do put on a great show, especially on front porches and steps, but when we look at a make-over for our containers it’s important to think longer-term so we can enjoy them all through fall and even into winter. A little creative thinking now will help elevate our spirits over the next six or seven months.
After last winter’s extreme cold, a couple of issues are now a bit more important.
First, for fall and winter we need larger containers, at least 18-24” in diameter, for a critical mass of a container soil blend to better tolerate frost.
The soil we use this time of year must also be a more open, porous mix that drains well, to minimize frost damage to root systems. When and if we get severe cold, all containers need to be moved to a southern or western facing location, out of the cold winter winds. You should also have enough N-sulate wrapping material on hand to wrap your containers should we have severe cold.
The fun part is creating your own containers, and finding just the right focal point is the key to success.
I love slender Hinoki cypress, and the unique upright blue junipers. There are so many other great choices this time of year as well: check out euonymus Greenspire, cypress Fernspray Gold, and the columnar boxwood Graham Blandy.
The secret is to enhance the look of these focal points by using other cool evergreen plants around them.
I love the nandinas, like Gulf Stream, that turn red in the winter, and pieris japonica, particularly Mountain Fire, with its buds just beginning to show for winter colour. There are so many varieties of euonymus available today that it’s hard to choose, but the upright varieties like e. Silver Queen and e. aureo marginata are especially colorful. Leucothoe Rainbow and l. Scarletta are also great companion plants.
Evergreen perennials add that pop of colour which lasts all winter. Heucheras come in a wide array of colours and I guarantee h. Wild Rose and h. Wild Berry will really catch attention. Many evergreen euphorbias, like the variegated e. Ascot Rainbow and e. Tasmanian Tiger not only add a unique touch but will flower for months from late February with vibrant hot lime flower stems.
Grasses, particularly the many varieties of the evergreen carex series called EverColour, make great additions to your planters: the hot lime of c. Everillo, the white and green of c. Everest and, one of my favourites, c. Everglow, is green with a vibrant gold edge. They all make a nice spillover effect which adds a classy final touch to your container. Don’t forget winter pansies, fall and winter blooming heathers, and smaller chrysanthemums can be tucked into your planters for even more colour.
Unique pieces of driftwood are also valuable for an added element and can be used as a framework for mini lights to perk up your container when we begin to get into earlier night times.
Stems of colourful shrub dogwoods in reds and yellows can be added once their leaves have dropped in November, as can the many contorted and curly willow branches. Festive berry branches of deciduous holly in red and gold can be added as we get closer to winter.
The containers you create now will be the longest lasting of the year and will give you and your patio a special lift in the bleakness of winter when we need it most.
