Cold-weather Bucket Gardening

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Container Gardens are a great option for the skimpier winter months

Bucket gardening is a great alternative during the winter months

Just because the the weather is chilly doesn’t mean you must retire your hanging baskets

Peruse your favourite garden centre for the freshest of seasonal colour. This winter-interest basket shows off a florist’s cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) – while not terribly hardy (10°C/50°F), if the weather is mild or the location protected, it lasts longer outside than inside a warm home.

Complementing it are a fancy-leaf ivy (Hedera, zone 5), winter pansies (Viola, zone 4) and a heather. Calluna cultivars shine in fall, and Erica cultivars take over for winter; both are hardy to zone 5. The little evergreen shrub is Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ (zone 7). Plants will look cheerier if the basket can be hung out of the rain.