Plants
25 Frost-Tolerant Winter Plants
If you live in a cold but mild hardiness zone (Zone 6, for example), you can keep many of the following 25 stunning plants in containers outdoors during the winter. Container gardeners in colder climates can also keep hardy winter plants, but the selection is more limited.
How to Grow and Care for Beets in Containers
Intro: Along with being completely edible, beet plants have attractive foliage that help make a container garden beautiful. Beet plant care in urban kitchen gardens is easy. This plant does best in deep plant containers (more than 1 foot deep). Beet roots grow from about 1.5 to 3 inches in diameter, and leaves can be as tall and as wide as 1 foot. There are many beet plant varieties, including small varieties, those with red foliage, or yellow or white roots, and the best-tasting varieties (for leaves) are ‘Early Wonder’ and ‘Green Top Bunching.’ The best plant container varieties are ‘Mini Ball’ and ‘Baby Bal.’
How to Grow and Care for Basil in Containers
Intro: Sweet basil, which is the basil plant variety used in Italian dishes, is an aromatic herb that you can grow in plant containers in your balcony garden or inside near a sunny window. The sweet basil plant has beautiful shiny leaves that are delicious in fresh dishes!
How to Grow and Care for Crassula ‘Morgan’s Beauty’ in Containers
Intro: Crassula ‘Morgan’s Beauty’ is a hybrid container plant created with C. falcata and C. mesembryanthemopsis. In summer this low-growing plant blooms with orange or red flower clusters. It has silvery-green leaves covered in a white powder. Crassula ‘Morgan’s Beauty’ is a compact succulent perfect for small plant containers, fitting in perfectly with a southwest desert garden theme. Crassula species are native to South Africa.
How to Grow and Care for the Orchid Flower in Containers
Intro: Phalaenopsis orchids, aka moth orchids, are the most commonly kept orchid flowers in the gardening hobby. There are thousands of orchid hybrids, and many are almost impossible to care for. If you choose a cheap orchid that you find in the grocery store or local garden shop, the odds are that it is an easier variety. These varieties are easy to keep alive, as long as the gardener realizes that orchid care is much different than most container plants that we keep.
