Alys Fowler: wonderful winter hanging baskets

My mother is mildly obsessed with her thyme hanging basket, and for good reason: it thrives in a way that thyme doesn’t always. It hangs outside a south-facing kitchen window, but I think the secret of its success is that it’s just under the eaves of the house, so is protected from winter rain. It always looks marvellous in summer, when it flowers, but it’s as attractive now. Plus there’s none of that splashback you get in winter from garden plants, so it’s a joy to cook with.

Prostrate rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis Prostratus Group) is another herb that works well in a hanging basket – the larger the basket, the bigger it will grow – and although it won’t do anything spectacular in winter, so long as it’s healthy, it will look luxurious. Maybe plant snowdrops, crocus or Iris reticulata varieties to pop up between the foliage and add some cheer.

When it comes to flowers, pansies and violas seem to rule the winter hanging basket scene, but that can be problematic; if the basket is too high, you won’t get much joy from those smiling faces. They can be a gamble, too. Those large petals often crumple and bleed in the rain, and can be shy to flower on short days. Violas, however, are tougher and flower more readily over a longer period – I guess due to their alpine ancestry. Dark violas tend to get lost against the soil: even though they look opulent and velvety in the garden centre, they’ll all but disappear at home: whites, pinks, sky blues and yellows show up best.

I have a soft spot for ornamental cabbages in baskets. The white and green sort, interplanted with white heather, Calluna vulgaris, and trailing ivy, make a lovely seasonal basket. You don’t have to pay for ivy: just find someone with plenty, lift a few strands with roots along them, and it will quickly bed down; if you have the sort of basket that lets you plant from below, nudge the ivy in there, so it doesn’t compete with other plants.

Hanging baskets work now because the plants are checking in for a few months. Other than ivy, the rest won’t put out a great deal of roots, so keep checking if they need water, particularly if sheltered from the rain. If you’re thrifty, when spring appears and you go for a new look, repot heathers, evergreen shrubs and ivies: you don’t need to pot them up into larger containers, but give them fresh compost, feed them over summer, and they’ll be ready for next year’s baskets, too.