Winter wonderland
Amateur Gardening|November 09, 2019
’Tis the season for bright containers, as Toby looks at some of the breeds designed to add cheer to chilly spots
Toby
Winter wonderland

WHEN planting winter containers, I can’t help thinking of Joan Rivers and her famous saying, ‘The light at the end of the tunnel is usually another train.’

Planting anything is a leap of faith, but especially in winter, and with winter bedding, who knows what the weather is going to throw at it? When I first started gardening, ‘Universal’ pansies were still in their infancy. Bred for their ability to bloom in winter, they were like primary school children in charge of a paint factory: colourful, but far from reliable. That hasn’t stopped parks’ departments from using pansies to fill beds – they may look promising now, but come spring they are often conspicuous by their absence, with weeds where the pansies should be.

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