Planting conifers in mixed containers has been at the top of The Garden Guy’s fall and winter project list. My wife, Jan, doesn’t even know — this has really been a secret operation to get more conifers in the landscape. She grew up in East Texas and thinks a conifer is only the longleaf pine.
I am doing this under the guise of living Christmas trees and thriller plants for the new AquaPots. She loved them in the fall decoration with mums and pumpkins, and now I have her dazzled with Christmas ornaments and lights. I have to admit, the granddaughter Princess Emma Grace will be shocked when she sees them at night.
Son James kind of got me started on this idea, as one of his clients in Alabama has him plant her favorite silver needle conifer in matching pots each fall, and then eventually it goes to serve as a screen on a long fence line. So The Garden Guy has plans that these new conifers in the AquaPots will go to the Conifer Collection.
There is something special about the living Christmas tree idea. The Soft Serve Chamaecyparis or false cypress in my containers will serve as a memory for Emma Grace and Grand Dad too, of Christmas when she was 5.
As horticulturists, we have talked often of the idea of living Christmas trees, but this was mostly geared toward the arduous task of trying to keep one alive for two weeks indoors and then planting outside. This can be done, and it will for sure make memories of some sort. But the new trend of planting them in mixed containers on the porch or a place of outdoor enjoyment certainly gives a much higher success rate.
So The Garden Guy has four AquaPots, two with Soft Serve false cypress and two more with Fluffy arborvitae welcoming visitors to the front entrance. On the back patio are two more AquaPots, each with a North Pole arborvitae. In each pot, the conifer serves as the thriller plant.
In each pot, I used a couple of Diamond Frost euphorbia, with the snow-like white blossoms for an immediate contrast. I used several Dolce Appletini heuchera with Granny Smith apple-like color and Primo Wild Rose with gorgeous purple leaves. For filler plants I also used Superbells Yellow calibrachoa.
In case you missed my recent column on AquaPots, they are incredibly beautiful glazed ceramic planters with a scientifically designed self-watering system. You will love them in the summer when it is hot, as it minimizes lugging the hose around. You will adore them in the winter, as it takes the pressure off you in determining if the plants need water. The plants will take the water up as needed.
We all remember Christmases past, because of house shoes that look like roosters, the tie with rock band colors, the sweaters that become part of the proverbial ugly sweater contest. But I assure you, the living Christmas trees will become memories too, as they transfer to the landscape in time. Unbeknownst to the others in the house, these become part of a wondrous Christmas conifer collection.
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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)
(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)
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This story was originally published December 16, 2021 4:00 AM.