A flowering balcony in winter: our tips

Planting Tips: Containers, Décor, and Accessories

Unless you have a large balcony or terrace where you can invite a few winter-flowering bushes in large pots (Hamamelis and Daphne), it is interesting to decorate your balcony with small plants that you will place in pretty containers. They will provide almost as much charm as the flowers in the middle of winter. This is where you should start to know the available space for your plantings, and thus the quantity of plants to buy.

For planters, you have a choice: balcony planters, a series of terracotta pots, but also baskets lined with protective plastic on the bottom and sides, zinc pots, revamped crates or buckets, salad baskets, or other homemade creations made from chicken wire filled with moss… Let your imagination run wild, as long as the containers are drained (punctured to allow water to escape, and filled with drainage balls at the bottom). If you use old enamelled pots, which are very trendy on vintage balconies, make sure to pierce them or keep them sheltered from the rain to manage watering and avoid excess moisture for the plants. Neutral or muted colours will look much nicer for this winter floral arrangement than containers in bright colours.

To make the most of the delicate winter blooms, set up, if you have space on the balcony, a mini table, a tripod, or a small bench: they will be perfect for holding plants with drooping flowers, which is the case for many winter blooms, thus protecting them from the elements (nature is indeed well made…). Placed in this way and near the window, they will also be better seen from inside.

Finally, to enhance the magical effect, place a beautiful lantern and a few white or red candles next to the pots or on the ground, a little dreamy cherub or some pine cones, a wreath or braid of fir, just there for decoration!

For a small balcony, a few zinc pots on a beautiful table will be quite charming!

What plants for a dream balcony in winter?

Bulbs

In winter, it’s true that there are fewer flowers than in other seasons. However, some small bulbs are known to withstand both cold and snow and emerge from the ground in the midst of the cold season. They look fantastic in small containers on a balcony!
The snowdrop is one of these little winter lights, perfectly sized for balcony planters. Consider other early small bulbs or tubercles that bloom as early as February: Crocus, Eranthis, Iris reticulata, and Cyclamen coum (they come in white or pink, and their foliage is almost as attractive as their flowers). In milder regions, you can opt for Cyclamen persicum, which can be found in garden centres in autumn (they can withstand temperatures down to -3°C).
→ Read: 7 late winter flowering bulbs and 5 early winter flowering bulbs

Iris reticulata, Crocus ‘Orange Monarch’, Cyclamen coum, Eranthis hyemalis, and Galanthus nivalis

Winter Flowering Plants

Whiteness and softness! White and shades of old pink to bright pink are the antidote colours to bad weather and leafless landscapes. You can find them in the 3 following plants, which remain small and are essential companions for winter planters: heathers (preferably in sunlight), hellebores, and Skimmia (in shade or partial shade). For the latter, which flowers at the end of winter but has beautiful ornamental flower buds throughout winter, choose dwarf varieties like ‘Godrie’s Dwarf’ or ‘Magic Marlot’.
Don’t forget about non-hardy annuals and biennials that will prolong your compositions: violets and horned pansies (they may sulk but will recover after a frost, just keep them out of strong winds), as well as ornamental cabbages, which, while not flowering, are stunning for their mauve to purple colour. Finally, some dwarf camellias will also be interesting, such as Camellia ‘Lipstick’, which blooms at the very beginning of the year (it will be included in a slightly larger pot).

Skimmia, violets, and heathers: the perfect trio for long-lasting flowering in your planters

Winter Clematis

Often planted in gardens, evergreen clematis with winter flowering can easily be invited into containers on a balcony. They contribute to the charm of a winter balcony with their delicate, snow-white flowers, such as Clematis ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Winter Beauty’ or Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’.
→ Also read: 6 clematis for winter flowering.

Colourful Evergreen Foliage

While they don’t provide colour through flowering, some grasses and small perennials adorn their foliage with warm colours, purple or bronze, which will enhance and add depth to your display. They will also form a base layer when you renew your planters for the following seasons. Some may flower later, but what we want is foliage that brightens, contrasts, and fills in the gaps!
→ The best: Ophiopogon, miniature Carex, or even Stipas in pots, Ajuga reptans, ferns, ivy, evergreen heucheras, etc.
Also enjoy the variegated foliage of miniature euonymus (Euonymus fortunei ‘Golden Harlequin’ or Euonymus japonicus ‘Pierrolino’) and the variegated bush veronica in milder climates.
Look for small silver-leaved rockery plants in garden centres to complete your display: Santolina, Ballota, or Helichrysum for their frosted effect, or the very airy Calocephalus (withstands temperatures down to -5°C) as well as the sea cineraria. All these plants will be placed on a sunny balcony.

Ivy, Clematis ‘Winter Beauty’, and Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’

Ideas for compositions and associations

Get inspired by the planters offered at florists, on social media, in beautiful books on the subject*… or right here! You can play with various themes: a colour scheme, long planters or hanging ones, a large pot on a stand with more voluminous plants, etc. Above all, keep in mind the exposure, as all these flowering plants in winter do not accept the same sunlight conditions.

A colour code

Just like for the festive table or the Christmas tree, where a different theme or colour is sometimes chosen each year, : they can be soft in white or pink, completely monochrome, or purple and white, playing with silver foliage, or even more vibrant with red, as a nod to the end-of-year celebrations.

Here, for example, is a flowering balcony in shades of red:

Skimmia, gaultheria, holly, and Camellia ‘Lipstick’. A Christmas rose ties it all together…

And here, a 100% white theme:

Galanthus nivalis, Euonymous ‘Pierrolino’, white heather, Carex, and Christmas rose.

In this lovely basket, only pink flowering plants have been invited:

Cyclamen, heather, gaultheria, and Oriental Hellebore ‘Pink Spotted’ (syn. ‘Rose Guttatus’).

In this example, for a sunny exposure, soft colours play with white, blue, and grey-green:

Heather, Ballota, Iris reticulata ‘Joyce’, Santolina, and viola cornuta.

Beautiful pots

On a spacious balcony, opt for magnificent pots by planting more generous bushes like Daphnes that thrive in pots, Skimmias, and the ever-beautiful winter hellebores! These three blooms will succeed each other from December to March.

Daphne odora, Skimmia japonica in bud, and Oriental Hellebore.

Winter floral compositions: a few tips

They will last quite a while in the cold, and watching them from the window or the bay is a delight. Compose your planters and pots between early October and late November, as this is when you will have the most choice in shops or at nurseries, especially for bulbs.

You can also add a few flowers of laurel in bud, decorate with ivy found on a walk, install a few willow stems, branches, or dried flowers, rosemary stems, or fir, found at the florist for all city dwellers, to create a temporary decor.

*My balcony all year round. Marion Erlick. 2023. Ed. Rustica or 4 seasons on the balcony. Annette Schreiner. 2004. Ed. Rustica.