An Evergreen Container for Winter

Last weekend I was in Asheville, North Carolina for my niece’s wedding. – Congratulations Rachel and Jared!! – We had a marvelous time, thanks in part to the great accommodations. Our luxury condo at Posh gave us enough room so that the five people in my family didn’t kill each other. The manager of Posh, Elizabeth, is good friends with my sister-in-law. I’ll skip over the story, but it ends with me spending a pleasant afternoon working for the hotel and creating this wonderful winter container.

We arrived on Thursday, and by Monday I was jonesing for a little gardening, so it worked out great for everyone. I only had time to plant this container and its twin. There are still two more entry pots that need planting, therefore this blog is somewhat of an instruction manual for Elizabeth and maybe for you too.

Prepare the pot: Empty, clean if needed, and put a coffee filter in the bottom. If your pots are going to crack this winter when the water in the soil freezes and expands, you should line the sides with bubble wrap, but don’t cover the drainage hole.

Prepare the potting mix: Regular potting soil is too heavy for shrubs and perennials. Mix it with finely shredded bark – often sold as soil conditioner – about half and half or maybe a little heavier on the potting soil, add a small handful of bone meal too.

Gather the plants – for each pot you need:

1 Corkscrew rush (Juncus ‘Twisted Arrow Mix’) – That’s the spiky plant in the back left.

I think the plants will look even better in the other two pots.

2 Euonymus fortunei ‘Kewensis’ – Those are the very small-leafed plants used as spillers in the front.

1 Teaberry (Gaultheria) – That’s the little plant in front with pretty berries.
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1 Pieris japonica ‘Cavatine’ – back right – I chose Pieris because the landscaping around the buildings includes several groups of Pieris, and I wanted to tie the pots to the larger landscape. It’ll be amazing in late winter when they all bloom.

1 Spurge (Euphorbia x martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’) (Warning: Be careful! The sap of Euphorbia is extremely irritating to skin and eyes.)

1 Liriope

I really wanted to use something purple like this great spurge ‘Blackbird’ to add drama, but they were sold out, and the purple coral bells didn’t have enough height.

Plant ‘em: If you’ve had the plants for a few days, make sure they are hydrated and happy before you transplant them. Put the spurge in the middle and place the others to match the picture.

Finish up: Sprinkle a small handful of bone meal over the top, and flood the container with water a few times to settle everything. Mulch the container with mini pine nuggets or soil conditioner to conserve moisture.

There are some disclosure requirements when I blog about stuff I get for free, – people give me things all the time because I’m a plant ho – but I don’t think they apply here. The reduction in my bill was more a barter than a gift. So legally I’m in the clear, but ethically I need to tell you the container was a collaborative effort between me and the nice, knowledgeable lady at B.B.Barns where we bought the plants. I’m hoping to spend another weekend at Posh in the spring to help Elizabeth change out the pots for summer, and I’ll definitely be shopping at B.B.Barns again.