Fragrant Winter Plants for Pots
How to brighten up your front door and your mood during the dull winter months
For some of us, British winters can be a little soul destroying, often overcast, grey, cold, and wet for days on end. And our gardens can look quite dull too, even with the most careful of successional planting, our treasured outside spaces are not exactly a riot of colour or interest. That’s why we sometimes need to bring the garden a bit closer to the house. Planting some pots of colourful winter interest creates a visual feast at a time when there’s little colour elsewhere. One or two little pockets of joy, including fragrant shrubs, close to your front door, is something you can enjoy every time you leave the house.
Surprisingly for such a dull time of year there is quite a wide range of winter fragrant plants ideal for a pot. It’s a wonderful way to bring a smile to your face each time you arrive home. Here are a few excellent choices.
Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox)
Wintersweet is a cold season star, a deciduous shrub ladened with waxy yellow flowers with deep reddish/purple centres and waft of intense perfume for a couple of months during the deepest darkest months of January and February. It’s likely to have bare branches when you pot it up in December, so you may want to tuck it out of the way until it starts to flower. When the show gets going in January bring it to a vantage point close to a door and enjoy. They flower on old wood so prune immediately after flowering.
Wintersweet is a relatively slow growing shrub so ideal for a pot for a couple of years, as the pot will restrict it growth. It will eventually become a large shrub of about 4.0m in height by about 2.5m in spread. In addition to Chimonanthus praecox there are two recommended varieties.
Chimonanthus praecox ‘Grandiflorus’ – has deeper yellow flowers with a purple centre and larger leaves.
Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’ – has larger flowers which are completely yellow though the fragrance isn’t as strong and it flowers slightly later.
Sweet box (Sarcococca)
Sweet box is a great winter plant, and as the name suggests it is similar to Box (Buxus) being evergreen with small deep glossy dark green leaves, however they don’t like close clipping and need only light prune after flowering. Winter flowering is where the Sweet box hits the mark, in the deepest winter months of December and January, small creamy white flowers release a scent which will lift everyone’s spirits. There are two recommended varieties.
Sarcococca confusa - will eventually grow to about 2.0m. After flowering, black berries will appear.
Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna – looking very similar though with slightly longer and thinner leaves and with green or purple stems, this is a more compact variety growing to 1.5m. I think this is probably the more elegant of the two.
Daphne (Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’)
These gems are compact and evergreen with lovely ovate leaves, with a golden margin, and flowers from January through to March. The multi pink flowers produce a lovely, sweet scent. A plant to have close to the house to enjoy on arrival or departure. The flowers are replaced in time with red berries. As it’s quite compact, only reaching 1.5m by 1.5m when fully grown, it doesn’t need much maintenance and is the perfect size for a container. Two further recommended varieties are.
Daphne bholua 'Jaqueline Postill' – a larger variety with highly fragrant white to purplish flowers in late winter followed by black berries. The leaves are a leathery dark green in contrast to the flowers.
Daphne x transatlantica 'Pink Fragrance’ – is a very compact shrub only reaching 1.0m by 1.0m.
Skimmia (Skimmia japonica 'Rubella')
This is a much-loved winter shrub, readily available this time of year at garden centres, Skimmias are ideal for both borders and pots. It’s an evergreen shrub which puts on a colourful display from late winter to late spring. First the buds appear in the autumn followed by fragrant flowers in spring making it ideal for a bit of succession planting. Team a Skimmia up with another fragrant shrub to have the longest scented season. It’s perfect for a container as it’s quite compact, reaching only 1.5m by 1.5m, though it will eventually need to be planted out in the garden in a semi shady spot. Here are two further varieties.
Skimmia Fragrans syn ‘Fragrant Cloud’ – clouds of pink-lime green buds appear before the flowers open in the spring. Size 1.0m by 1.0m.
Skimmia japonica ‘White Globe’ –has lovely greenish-white flower buds from autumn and opening fragrantly in the spring. Size 1.0m by 1.0m.
Witch hazel (Hamamelis × intermedia 'Pallida')
Witch hazel produces a spectacular display of wild alien looking sulphur yellow spider-like flowers with a fruit like scent in late winter. Pallida is the most scented variety. There is an added benefit of lovely autumn colour too. As with any shrub, a pot will stunt its growth, however, in the longer term it will eventually need to be planted out in the garden as it will reach 4.0m by 4.0m in time, so make sure you have plenty of space for it. Here are two more lovely varieties.
Hamamelis mollis ‘Imperialis’ – more upright in habit, reaching 3.5m by 3.0m when mature. Strongly scented, with yellow petals that can reach 2 cm and reddish centres.
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’ – a full-size variety reaching 4.0m by 4.0m with striking lightly scented orange flowers.
Viburnum × bodnantense 'Dawn'
We have this viburnum planted by the driveway, though quite a small specimen as it hasn’t got going yet, through December last year we were often greeted by its sweet scent when we got home. The flowers are deep pink opening to pale pink on bare stems making it quite distinctive at this time of year. Being upright it’s ideally suited to a container when it’s young, though will reach 2.5m x 1.5m at maturity. So, this is another one where you need to think carefully about finding it a permanent home once it’s outgrown its pot.
Notes on plants in pots
Shrubs in pots do not need much maintenance other than regular watering and the occasional feed. Good preparation will keep you plant healthy for longer so think about the type of pot and the compost you use. Here are some pointers to get you started.
Let’s talk about pots!
My preference for containers for shrubs is generally ceramic which are frost proof and on the heavier side as we want to avoid the plant being blown over. Terracotta is also a good choice but opt for a more expensive well know brand with a frost guarantee. Terracotta, more than any material, is prone to frost damage, so do some research before investing in a terracotta pot.
Drainage is key, so make sure there are adequate drainage holes. A layer of crocks or gravel will help to keep the drainage holes free of compost which can block them up. Water logging is really not good for any plants, let alone shrubs. Think about raising the pot onto feet to improve draining, although this may also make the pot more vulnerable to being blown over in windy conditions. The pot also needs to be large enough for the roots of the shrubs to grow, but not too large that the shrub becomes swamped in damp compost. Colour wise, outdoor pots are often in muted shades, however a nice clean black pot can look very smart by a front door.
And what about compost?
Shrubs are best planted in a loam based potting compost such as John Innes No. 3. It’s specially formulated to contain the right balance of fertilizer and nutrients and the heavier weight will also help keep plants upright during windy period. For a smart finish dress the top of the pot with alpine gravel or similar, this not only looks good but reduces compost splashing. From a sustainability point of view, I only suggest this for plants which will be containerised in the long term.
What to do afterwards?
Do water regularly, and even in the winter check that the compost is damp and water if it’s dry. A great rule to remember is to try to water before midday during the winter. This allows the pot to have drained before the potential onset of frost. As these shrubs are active and flowering, they will still need a regular supply of water and nutrients. Feed occasionally with a slow-release fertilizer, such as pelleted poultry manure.
If a containerised plant starts to look tired and lacks vigour, it’s likely that it’s outgrown the pot and the compost. There are a couple of choices, 1) re-pot in a slightly larger container, 2) plant into the garden and replace with a new specimen or a different variety. That’s very much your choice.
I use a slow-release organic fertilizer on our containerised shrubs, such as pelleted poultry manure each spring, and this seems to do the trick and keep plants healthy for another season.
In severe cold weather it may be worth throwing over some fleece or moving the pot somewhere a bit more sheltered to give the plant some protection, as container grown plants are more prone to frost damage than border grown plants.
Whatever your choice, any of these shrubs will bring a smile to your face and a skip in your step in even the grimmest darkest weather!
Thanks for reading and happy gardening.
Craig