Tips
Pots of colour for the winter garden
April’s the month to plan your garden for the months ahead. For example, by planting up pots of flowers now, you’ll have weeks of colour to decorate your relatively bare winter garden.
Start with a pot
Yates Tuscan Edge and Artesian pots are good looking, easy to move and have clever, self-watering features that mean they’re much less likely to dry out between waterings. This is especially helpful for busy gardeners who aren’t around much during the week.
Choose your flowers
- Sweet peas Some flowers, such as the early-blooming sweet peas, are at their best in winter and, fortunately, sweet peas can be sown happily into pots. Choose a small-growing variety like Bijou (which gets up to 60cm) or the ultra-tiny Pixie Princess that only reaches 20cm. Bijou will look at its best if it’s trained onto a low tripod or climbing frame.
- Bulbs Spring bulbs like jonquils are readily available in April. Crowd the bulbs together in a shallow pot, then put it somewhere in the shade. Once the shoots appear, move the pot into more sun. Don’t forget, too, that bright green bulb shoots are irresistible to snails, so protect the new growth with a sprinkling of Blitzem Snail pellets. Feed the bulbs as they grow by regularly watering with Thrive Flower & Fruit. While this has been specially blended to promote blooming, it will also help keep the crowded bulbs healthy. Don’t forget, too, that the energy in the crowded bulbs will probably be completely spent after flowering, so it’s best to compost them rather than expecting them to survive for another year. But if you’re really keen you can try transplanting the bulb plants carefully into a garden bed, and continue feeding them until the leaves die down completely.
- Cyclamens (pictured) For frost-free areas or protected outdoor spots, cyclamens can provide colour for months. In cold climates, enjoy cyclamens indoors in a well-lit, cool position. Keep them out of heated rooms.
- Pansies Pansies are the perennial favourites for winter colour. It’s not surprising – they’re cold tolerant, they flower for months and they come in an amazing range of colours. Yates has three pansy varieties in its seed range: the extra-long-flowering Joker Mix. Super-large Giant Supreme and the exotic Black Knight, which is almost pure black.
Caring for your potted flowers
No matter which flower you choose, use a top quality potting mix such as Yates Professional or Yates Premium. Plant carefully into the mix and water well. Keep the pots in a sunny, out-of-the-way spot until they’re looking at their best and then move them into a prominent, show-off position. Once the plants reach maturity, begin feeding with Thrive Flower & Fruit. You can prolong their blooming by removing the spent flowers. Use Yates Rose Gun to control pests and diseases.
Comments (8)
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Sue
Yates site member
06:35, 07 April 2010
Mu spring bulbs are just starting to shoot, so will look out for snails
Patricia
Yates site member
10:10, 07 April 2010
How can I best shift my daffodil bulbs to a new property in April? ( Northern Waikato )
Lisa
Yates site member
13:46, 07 April 2010
I just gently dug mine up when we were moving from our property to a new one. I stored mine in paper bags and ice cream containers till ready to plant. Once in the new garden they took off again. All the best for your move for you and your bulbs
Susan
Yates site member
14:39, 07 April 2010
great ideas for plantings for the coming winter months - thank you!
Jill
Yates site member
14:45, 07 April 2010
Great advice re bulbs and other flowers, once my Zen Garden is completed I will start to pot my bulbs.
Yvonne
Yates site member
19:38, 07 April 2010
Love the cyclamen in a large pot and I'll be sure to plant one up. Thanks
Lynn
Yates site member
04:07, 08 April 2010
Just waiting for the pansies and poly's to arrive in bulk then will be potting up. Love all the colour in my winter garden. My mini cyclamen has manged to transfer itself round my garden. A delight to find these little treasures popping up in all sorts of nooks and crannies.
Jude
Yates site member
03:50, 19 April 2010
When we shifted tried two methods that both worked. I dug my bulbs out with a huge clump of dirt srrounding them and put it in a pot to transport, planting the whole lot as is in my new garden. Some others I sifted outof the soil with my fingers and planted with my husband's homemade planter in a line along a fenceline. Both worked effectively.
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