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gardening question

halenajulie42halenajulie42 Posts: 13
in Plants

Hello, all you master gardeners out there.
We have a need to have some color and/or blooming plants in planters in front of our little house at the beginning of January. Is there any plant that can survive the cold for a short period of time outside at the beginning of January in SoWal? (X on artificial, I know someone was itching to post that, so thought I'd pre-empt. :D)
Any help appreciated!

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Pansies.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Bit of a limited choice.

    Pansies and violas but they will really perk up and flower their socks off in April/May. 
    Christmas roses, heather.  Winter Jasmine, but grown usually as a climber. Witch Hazel, but too big for a planter. Bulbs, such as snowdrops, iris reticulata and crocuses but they will probably flower in February.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    The daffodil Rijnveld’s Early Sensation might just work ... but would probably be a couple of weeks late to the party.
    Rutland, England
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Is this for 'an occasion' or simply that you feel the garden needs brightening up post Christmas ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    You can get colour  from evergreen foliage plants such as Euonymous, small variegated ivies, Sarcococca,  or genuinely small conifers - check adult size carefully! Herbs like lavender and rosemary will give foliage but not flowers. Some Carex have attractive foliage too, that lasts through winter.
    Flowering plants are trickier, as it depends a lot on the weather up to the time you need them. Some types of heather will hold their flowers, and Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' can have a few flowers all year round if weather is kind.  There also some early flowering forms of Hellebore that flower from December onwards and there are snowdrops of course. I find primulas/polyanthus often keep going in all but the worst weather and have cheery bright flowers.
    If you live somewhere with mild winters you might try some other bulbs in pots: hyacinths or early narcissus, but you would need to take them in if frosts threaten, as they are not fully hardy. Some berrying plants might still have colour - my dog rose hips lasted well into new year before the birds ate them, but it is hard to predict and they are generally larger shrubs.

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    BenCotto said:
    The daffodil Rijnveld’s Early Sensation might just work ... but would probably be a couple of weeks late to the party.
    Mine reliably flower between Christmas and New Year
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Narcissus Cedric Morris is always said to be the earliest flowering, often in flower by Christmas. It is however hard to obtain.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • halenajulie42halenajulie42 Posts: 13
    Thanks, everyone for your kind suggestions, 
  • borgadrborgadr Posts: 718
    BenCotto said:
    The daffodil Rijnveld’s Early Sensation might just work ... but would probably be a couple of weeks late to the party.
    Might be a little late.  I tried them this year (planted the bulbs early September), the flowers just started to open right at the end of Jan, and only really got going early Feb.

    Great daffs though..  flowered for a good month or so.  
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