Planting A Container To Last Summer Through Winter

This winter I saw something I had never seen before.  It happened when I was walking around an outlet mall and saw something bright red in a planter a little ways out.  I wandered up to take a closer look!  In the planter I saw faded hydrangea flowers spray painted red! I have to admit they looked great, but I was quite surprised as I have never seen that before!  I love looking at commercial planters and admiring the beauty, plus it never hurts to scope out some ideas for planting a container of your own!

However, the one hang up I have is most commercial planters are completely torn apart and new flowers brought in each season.  While I love having gorgeous planters, buying new flowers each season is more than I like to spend.  So last year I got creative and planted containers that would easily transition from summer through winter.  It worked so well, so let me show you what I did!

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Plant Selection

In order to create a planter that works from summer through winter, I needed to find a thriller that would survive in my zone…in a container. 

I decided on a Bobo Hydrangea!  The Bobo Hydrangea is a panicle hydrangea that grows 2.5-3′ tall and 3-4′ wide.  It is small for a hydrangea and will do great in a container. 

A Bobo Hydrangea will have beautiful white blooms during the summer, turn a ruby pink in the fall and then fade to a beautiful amber color in the winter.  Plus it is rated to zone 3, so it will survive in a container where I live!  

Each season, along with your thriller,  you will want to throw in some simple and inexpensive complementary plants. These are smaller plants, known as fillers and spillers, to go with the centerpiece of your planter.   

Let’s jump into what I have in my container, starting with summer.

Planting A Summer Container

I planted my Bobo Hydrangea in May!  The first year the Hydrangea will need to grow and fill in, so just be patient, it will be worth it!

The hydrangea quickly grew and to add a little color I added a few complementary plants.

Here is my summer planter: 

Bobo Hydrangea (Thriller)

Creeping Jenny (Spiller)

Red Geraniums (Filler)

White Bellflower (Filler) *The bellflowers didn’t burst with blooms like I had hoped, so I might try white wave Petunias next summer.

By midsummer, the hydrangeas were in full bloom!

Transitioning To Fall

By September, my summer plants were beginning to fade.  Except the Bobo Hydrangea, which was just starting to turn pink for fall!

It was time to pull my summer plants.

Somewhere I had heard that you can bring geraniums in during the winter and they will survive…so I thought it was worth a try.  Guess what, you can! 

This is my geranium plant, the one I pulled from my planters, inside my house in February!

Planting A Fall Container

I switched my planters from summer to fall for $4 each!  To do this I bought ornamental kale and one mum plant for each planter.  I left the creeping jenny and of course my Bobo Hydrangea plant. 

Once everything was planted, I needed a few more fillers…so I walked around my yard.

I came across my caramel heuchera and thought they would look great in my containers.  In fact, they were in my planters the year before, but I removed them to make my winter containers. Thankfully, I planted them back in the ground (even though it was November) and they survived!

I needed one more thing to fill in some space, so I grabbed two small hosta plants.  One for each container.  

Here is my fall planter:

Bobo Hydrangea (Thriller)

Creeping Jenny (Spiller)

Caramel Heuchera (Filler)

Hosta (Filler)

Ornamental Kale (Filler)

 It may look a little monochrome, but just wait as the color begins to explode.  That’s the beauty of fall!

Here is the planter in late fall, once the creeping jenny and hosta have turned a golden yellow.

Planting A Winter Container

To transition to winter, I removed the creeping jenny and hosta.  Then added some evergreen branches from my yard.  The ornamental kale and caramel heuchera add some beautiful color to winter planters, so you will want to keep them!  

Here is my winter planter:

Bobo Hydrangea (Thriller)

Ornamental Kale (Filler)

Caramel Heuchera (Filler)

Russian Cypress Branches (Filler)

White Pine Branches (Filler)

Choosing plants for your container that can last through the seasons will make the transitions so much easier!  Interested in growing more plants in your yard to create gorgeous planters?  Check out the ebook The Ultimate Plant Guide To Decorating!  Just getting started on Landscaping?  Check out the basics with Landscaping Made Easy!

Planters can be beautiful, but they don’t have to cost a ton!  So be frugal and have fun creating your next summer planter that will last till winter!  Thanks for checking out my post!