Hi,

I wanted to add some colour to my balcony to make the dreary winter days a bit less gloomy. So I planted the berry container with winter and fall plants. They should provide enough colour throughout the winter. 

Plant List for the Berry Container

In this container I put a lot of plants. I don’t put so many plants in the container because it is a very small space. And soil gets depleted very fast. But most of these plants are happy to be in low nutrient soil, so I crammed a bit more of them. Here’s the list:

• 1 Chamaecyparis
• 3 Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
• Calluna vulgaris or heather (I think this is “White Long”)
• Ivy – white variegated
• Red cyclamen

The planting is simple and groups the similar colours together. Since wintergreen had red berries and I bought red cyclamen plant and platend it right next to the wintergreen bunch. I don’t know if my cyclamen plant is actually winter hardy. But when I bought it it was outside with “winterhardy” declaration on it, so I choose to leave it out during the winter. The chamaecyparis is set by the cyclamen in the back of the container and provides the high element in the container. It also make sa great backdrop for cyclamen flowers, and really makes them pop.

I also grouped my white elements – white heather and white variegated ivy. The ivy provides the crawling element as well as interest in a bit different leaves. The gaultheria still has some white flowers and it’s colour is more pronounced with the white of the heather and ivy leaves. I made sure to plant everything in acidic soil, so heather and wintergreen can thrive. 

All of these plants should provide great interest during the fall and winter months. I will most likely remove some of the plants from the berry container in the spring. Since the container is crammed full, they most likely won’t survive the hotness of the summer if left in there. Until then, I will enjoy their lavish display 🙂