Autumn/Winter container gardening

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Would love some planting suggestions.

I have 3 60 cm pots, various 30 cams and 3 45/cm rectangular. 2 30 cm hanging baskets and 2 20 cm. Most will be going in the front garden which is south west facing but two of the largest (including a small Acer which I.ll be repotting) and the two smaller hanging baskets will be going in the back. I want 'halloween' to fit in with the plantings - partucularly the front. I have little idea of what I'm doing - usually I just chose geraniums/petunias/geraniums in in the summer.

Can anyone help?

Violas have lasted the winter with us, as have cyclamen. Snowdrops before Christmas sometimes. I plant around either a limey conifer or a skimmia japonica (various types, white or red berries, male and female) for evergreen interest.

I want 'halloween' to fit in with the plantings - partucularly the front. I have little idea of what I'm doing What do you mean by this? - are you looking for hallowe'en type plantings, eg lots of fiery orange colours perhaps interspersed with black foliage?

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, that's right re 'Halloween' - deep reds, purples, oranges, lime greens.

I found a gorgeous black viola called 'midnight runner' but can only find it in seed form, unfortunately.

Will post a picture of what I've bought so far - all for the planters though I need way more, nothing for the hanging baskets yet (am struggling with those

Dog wood, snowdrops and funky black grass (can't remember what it's called). I have this combination in a border outside my kitchen window.

Here’s what I bought yesterday

I love that black grass. And the dogwood!

How fast did your dogwood grow, RIPWalter? Just looking now and I can get 9cm pots for £4.99 but worried they will be tiny

I’ve got a red twig dogwood which was here when I moved in. I’ve pruned it each year, but it was getting out of control.

Following RHS advice, I cut it right down to the ground at the end of March. At the beginning of June it started to show new shoots and at the beginning of August it was well on its way to being large again (photos of the 3 stages attached).

I love it in the winter, the vibrant twigs brighten up the garden on grey miserable days.

Good grief, it grows fast! I've just bought two in 3.5l pots for the two 60cm containers.

I found this for you www.brooksidenursery.co.uk/viola-sorbet-black-delight-autumn-and-winter-flowering-tray-of-40-plug-plants.html

Good luck, hope you’re pleased with them. Update with some photos in a few months so we can see how they’re doing!

Thanks. Will do.

Nasturtiums are great for masses of orange flowers around Hallowe'en. Again, from seed, but you can sometimes get small plants from garden centres. There's also some striking varieties with flame red flowers against dark purple leaves. Calendula is another late summer orange flowerer - it'll carry on till the frosts.

The "black grass" is Ophiopogon planiscarpus "Nigrescens". It's not actually a grass, it's in the asparagus family.

You can also get black from some of the dwarf french beans - I one had a stunning box with black french beans and lime green lettuces.

Lime green - the most obvious source is Nicotiana.

An easy way to get dogwood (or similar) in a container is simply to prune your dogwood or golden stemmed willow and put the prunings into the container - either in a naturalistic way, so they look like RIP's lovely planting, or deliberately artificial, eg a perfect cylindrical arangement of matching height.

God don't get a dogwood!
My mum had one, absolute nightmare plant!
You can cut them down to the ground and it's back to an enormous beast of a plant unbelievably quickly.

www.brooksidenursery.co.uk/viola-halloween-mixed-autumn-and-winter-flowering-tray-of-40-plug-plants.html from the same nursery