The often melancholy days of November are upon us. Snowflakes may gather on the grass and in the garden as the last of the brightly colored autumn leaves fall, leaving the trees bare. Some of you might think that this is the end of gardening for the year and there is little to anticipate until spring, but we both know that there is another season to appreciate. And if you plan for it, your winter garden can be quietly satisfying, and even inspiring.
I’ve written before about year-round container gardening and practice what I preach. My containers have been cleared of all the annuals that struck my fancy in early May and I consider the creations a job well done. I’ve made notes about what worked well. And what didn’t. But what now? Some of my pots are quite large and impossible to move around. Though our winter climate can be discouraging, we gardeners can use our imagination along with cut and foraged plant material to create stunning arrangements that will be the envy of all of your neighbors. The Romans originated the practice of using evergreen boughs to decorate the home for a festival called Saturnalia, an ancient practice that celebrates the winter holidays. In our modern calendar, Saturnalia begins on December 17th and continues through the 23rd. During the festival, celebrants decorated trees with bits of bright metal and gave each other gifts for the new year.
To create these masterpieces for yourself, start out by choosing containers that are suitable for winter use and avoiding those that may be damaged. Pots made of plastic, concrete, metal, wood or any of the new composite resins will winter successfully. Ceramic and terra cotta are best cleaned out and put away into a dry storage area. That being said, I do keep my large ceramic pots out, but they are placed on well-drained gravel.
Sand works best to weight the pots and to anchor the greens and stems, but you can use your existing potting soil. We like to begin with a material that will form the basic shape of the arrangement and provide volume. Balsam Fir is an excellent choice. Next, you’ll want to create some upright movement, so choose from stiffer materials like Fraser Fir or Norway Pine. Place some more pendulous branches around the edge of the container to soften the edges of your creation. Choose from exotic Cedar, nicely berried Juniper or our native White Pine.
Finally, provide some accent and height by adding stems with colorful bark, like Red or Yellow Twigged Dogwood, Curly Willow or Pussy Willow. And don’t forget berries. Bright scarlet Winterberry, our native Holly, will give your pot that extra holiday pop of color and feed over-wintering birds at the same time. And speaking of extra, you may not want to store those wire obelisks that you purchased this spring. Anchor them into the center of your arrangement and twine some lights. You’ll also find glittered pine cones, sparkly branches and birch poles under our Atrium. Voila! Your containers will be fabulous looking until March.
It’s best to purchase your evergreen branches. Though you may be tempted, this is not a great time to prune your evergreen trees and shrubs. But if you have drying PeeGee Hydangea flowers or feathery miscanthus seed heads in your garden borders, go ahead and do a little harvesting. The variety is what makes your containers unique and special.
As the year tumbles into winter, the urge to light up the darkness is hard to resist. Although we feel that winter is a time for reflection and incubation, there isn’t anything untoward with trying to stave off the cold by enlivening our lives and homes. Live plants and evergreens brighten the dark days and long nights by reminding us that spring will be found simply by waiting for the world to spin. So enjoy your inner decorating diva. We all have one. She’s just a bit more dormant in some of us.