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| Photo Credit: Sam Spiro/fotolia.com |
| Enjoy big, beautiful geraniums like these without the annual investment by bringing them inside to overwinter. | Any cold-climate gardener who has ever visited California or Texas in winter can’t help but be jealous of the gorgeous pots, window boxes and planters overflowing with spectacular plants. Those lucky gardeners can even grow entire trees in containers without too much worry about hard freezes completely zapping their plants or shattering their containers. In colder climates (USDA hardiness Zone 6 and colder – roughly the northern third of the US), subzero temperatures are tough on plants and containers. The bitter cold freezes container soil solid, ending the life of any plants within, and the freeze and thaw cycles often reduce pots to a pile of shards in just one winter. Despite these cold, hard facts, Northern gardeners can still enjoy beautiful, bounteous container plants filled with rosemary, roses, figs, dwarf fruit trees, citrus trees, jasmine, hibiscus, gardenia, oversized geraniums and bougainvillea. The trick is to do it right. Here are some tips to get you started: Choose the right container. Look for cold-proof pots that you can leave outside year-round. Terra-cotta, ceramic and concrete containers are not good selections because they absorb moisture, which expands when frozen. This cracks or shatters the pot. Instead, look for wood or metal containers that can handle a freeze with minimal effect.
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| Photo Credit: Whitechild/fotolia.com |
| You can grow small trees in containers year after year no matter where you live – you just have to choose your tree carefully and provide adequate winter protection. | Fiberglass and other plastic-like containers are a mixed bag in terms of winter endurance. Cheaper, more brittle plastics will freeze and crack over time. Fiberglass, resin and other upscale plastic-type containers will last the winter, but their colors tend to fade over a few years, making them lose their realistic look. Try some overwintering strategies. Small evergreen trees and shrubs look great in pots – especially flanking either side of a doorway. Planted in the ground, they’d likely grow, thrive and last for years. But they just can’t survive the cold winter freeze in pots because their roots aren’t protected as they otherwise would be in the ground. So what are your options? Well, you can think of your potted plants as annuals, even if they aren’t. Keep them around for a year – enjoy them while they thrive and add twinkling lights to them around the holidays. Just be prepared to replace them next year, because more than likely, the needles will brown and fall off when the spring thaw comes. But hey, for about 12 months, you will have enjoyed a great plant or two.
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