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What successor plants to hydrangeas and hostas
Lola Odeyemi
Posts: 8
in Plants
I am fairly new to gardening and seem to have gone overboard with hostas and hydrangeas. Trouble is that in the winter, my garden looked bare because they had died back. The hostas and hydrAngeas are in pots apart from 3 hydrangeas on the ground.
Are there any winter/early spring flowering plants I can plant in the same pots so that they can provide interest when the hostas and hydrangeas die down? The ugly looking empty pots really did my head in over the winter and I don't think I can hear to live with the same situation this year.
Even now, the hydrangeas are taking their sweet time growing out from below. I'm not very happy.
0
Posts
If you want winter colour then you will have get some evergreen plants, maybe something like pieris, which will give you pink or red new leaves in spring, followed by white flowers, as well as green or variegated leaves all winter. Or there are Hebes, with leaves in various colours and summer flowers, or winter flowering heathers. The heathers and the Pieris need ericaceous compost and they all need less watering than the Hostas and Hydrangeas, so willl need their own pots.
Both Hostas and Hydrangeas willl fill a large pot on their own, unless you have some of the mini Hostas like Mouse ears, so you can't plant much with them. You could put some snowdrops or crocuses round the edges of the Hosta pots for spring colour. Hydrangeas do better in the ground than in pots and they are slow starters so either plant them out or find a quiet corner to stand the pots during their off time, while you have your other plants to enjoy. A pot or two of daffodils or bright coloured tulips will give you a boost in the spring and you could maybe get away with some primroses or polyanthus or winter flowering pansies under the Hydrangeas or in the pots with the bulbs.
Have fun
I hate winter, but rather like the winter bleakness plant wise. I like the contrast between the bare winter soil and the exuberant new growth in Spring and the Summer lushness. It also allows for soil mulching .
I have lots of Hostas and hydrangeas in one flower bed, and like you find it a bit bleak in the winter. I have a sedum and heuchera that adds some colour, but I'm planning on planting some snowdrops and cyclamen to try to brighten things up.
I add Anemone Blanda to pots for spring colour and have heucheras permanently in others with shrubs.All are in large pots.