Your garden can be a part of your holiday decor. Some of your flowers will carry over into fall and winter. You can still order bedding and container plants. Don’t just settle for evergreens when you can have colorful autumn and winter flowers.
Planning Your Holiday Landscaping
Some of your summer flowers will bloom well into November and December. You can plant other flowers that will come into bloom in winter. You can also order flats of some flowers for the holidays. Some landscaping flowers to consider are:
- Marigolds are yellow to deep orange annuals that will re-seed themselves as summer comes to an end and the seed heads dry up and turn brown. Don’t deadhead your Marigolds if you want a second blooming starting in fall. Marigolds can withstand some freezing or just below freezing nights and are good bedding plants. The central plant is a viney growth with spreading flowers six to eight inches tall.
- Daphne bholua is a wonderful evergreen shrub that grows to about eight feet tall and flowers in midwinter. Each stem has many blooms ranging from white to deep mauve.
- Pansies provide brilliant color in low-growing bedding plants. Scarlet Pansies with almost black centers are an excellent choice for December. Landscapers have flats ready for pre-holiday planting.
- Snapdragons may not seem like a winter flower, but at up to three feet tall, they can be your colorful winter standout. Plant them in early autumn for maximum height and blossoms in December. You can also order them from your landscaper.
- Iceland Poppies are all colorful drama on a tall stem bare of leaves. The blooms are a spiral of orange, red and neon pink. Plant full-grown Iceland Poppies in full sun in late autumn and early winter.
Outdoor Container Plants for Late Fall and Winter
Container plants look great flanking your front doors and steps. They also dress up your deck. Fall and winter container plants accentuate decorative greenery and are especially beautiful when placed next to areas with holiday lights. Some container plants for holiday decor are:
- Cyclamen’s white petals also feature the pale and deep reds you associate with Christmas flowers. Keep them on your porch in partial shade. Water Cyclamen frequently.
- The yellow blooms of English Primrose are a welcome sight in winter. The color and trailing flowers are a perfect complement to Thanksgiving decor.
Winter Berries
Nandina, also called Heavenly Bamboo, reaches heights over eight feet. In spring, bumblebees love to forage in its tiny, pale yellow flowers that grow on its slender stems. Nandina’s red berries feed colorful songbirds in winter. The leaves change from deep green to gold to red. You can order juvenile Nandinas with colorful leaves now.
Things to remember:
- Use a combination of landscaping and container plants
- Plant and seed in early fall for winter color
- Add permanent beauty to your landscaping with shrubs
Is your landscaping losing its color? It’s not too late to call us for natural holiday beauty. Contact us today.