Here's how to add rich color, texture and sparkle to outdoor window boxes and containers during the holidays:
Anchor your containers with hardy evergreens such as boxwood and juniper, or use small berried shrubs (like nandina and cotoneaster) as the centerpiece. Add pansies and violas if available in your region. Otherwise, try Helleborus orientalis, a sweet winter-blooming perennial. Leave room for ivies to spill over the sides. Drape clear miniature lights along the sides of the container for nighttime sparkle.
Use one or two evergreens in a container and place reflective plastic ornaments on the soil surface, nestling them up close to plantings. Weave some clear miniature lights through the ornaments so they'll illuminate at night.
If your temperatures stay above 60 F, fill containers with poinsettias or amaryllis. Cover the soil with green moss, or lay evergreen cuttings like holly around the plants. Then, string a few ornaments and drape over the edge of the containers, anchoring with stakes.
Fran Sorin, a garden designer, writer and nationally known gardening expert is changing how people perceive gardening. Her multi-media exposure reflects her philosophy that, just like exercising regularly or following a wholesome diet, gardening is necessary for living a healthier life.
http://www.fransorin.com/index.asp
