Winter hanging baskets

Let me tell you why I got into this in the first place. Winter hanging baskets are the ones that defeat most people. You plant them up full of October hope, a hard frost turns up in December, and by New Year you have two sad brown pots flanking a cold front door. Been there. I was juggling nursing shifts and a house full of teenagers, with precisely no time to nurse a basket through a cold snap on my knees in the dark. So here is the honest, practical version, shortcut and all.

Why Winter Is Hard on Baskets

Winter throws three problems at a basket at once: frost that kills tender growth, short dull days that stall the flowering, and wet-then-freeze cycles that quietly rot the roots. The Royal Horticultural Society has sensible advice on protecting containers from frost, worth a read if you are growing live. The short of it is that most summer bedding simply will not make it, and even proper winter bedding wants the right spot and a slice of luck.

The Live Winter Options, Honestly

If you do want living winter baskets, the plants that genuinely earn their place are:

• Winter pansies and violas - the reliable colour, if the frost plays fair.
• Trailing ivy - evergreen structure that holds right through the cold.
• Heathers (erica) - a bit of texture and a pink or white haze.
• Cyclamen - jewel colour, though they sulk in a hard freeze.

Gardeners' World has a good guide to winter basket plants if you fancy the challenge. And it is a challenge. Even done well, a live winter basket looks tired and leggy by February, right when you most want cheering up.

My Shortcut: Artificial Winter Baskets

Here is where I stop pretending and tell you what I actually do now. I use high-quality artificial displays for winter, and I have never once regretted it. We sell the artificial baskets and the hardware, not live plants, and for winter that is genuinely the better answer, not a compromise. No frost damage. No dead patches. No cold Sunday spent replanting while the kettle goes cold indoors. The colour you hang in November is the colour you still have in March.

For winter I lean on evergreen structure. An artificial ivy garland threaded round the frame keeps that lush, green, alive look even in sleet, and an artificial Persian fern hanging vine adds a bit of soft movement where a live plant would be sitting there sulking. Browse the seasonal winter collection for pieces chosen for the colder months, or the wider artificial hanging baskets range to build your own scheme. For swapping displays through the year, see our seasonal displays guide.

A Note on Weight and Fixings in Winter

One thing people forget: winter brings wind, and wind is what actually brings baskets down. Make sure your bracket is solid and your basket is secured properly before the first big storm, because a gust catching a swinging basket at two in the morning is how you find it on the drive. An artificial basket is lighter than a soaked live one, which helps, but a firm fixing still earns its keep.

FAQ

Do winter hanging baskets need watering? Live winter baskets still need occasional watering on dry, frost-free days, because pots dry out even in cold weather, though far less than in summer. Artificial winter baskets need no watering at all, which is a large part of why I switched to them for the colder months.

Will artificial winter baskets fade outdoors? Quality artificial displays are made to resist fading, and winter's weak, low sun is far gentler on them than summer glare. For the longest life, our winter pieces are chosen for durable colour, and a quick rinse now and then keeps them looking fresh.

When should I put up winter hanging baskets? Late October into November is the usual time, as summer displays fade and before the first hard frosts. With artificial baskets you have more freedom, since there's nothing to establish, so you can swap them over whenever suits you.

About the author Priya Sethi — Real colour without the daily watering Priya juggles a part-time nursing job in Birmingham with a house full of teenagers and a garden she loves but can't babysit. She got into high-quality artificial and drought-tolerant baskets out of necessity and became a bit of an evangelist. She reviews faux displays with the eye of someone who'll notice a naff plastic leaf from ten feet. Writing for The Hanging Basket Co.