Potted Plants for a Colourful Autumn & Winter

It’s easy to overlook potted plants in favour of their ground-bound counterparts but there are plenty of reasons why pots and containers can make an excellent addition to your garden. For example, they provide extra space for plant life in small gardens and even allow for more plant variety thanks to unshared soil. In addition, more and more garden owners are opting for artificial turf for an evergreen look all year ‘round without having to compromise on plant life…all thanks to the powers of potted plants! With that in mind, let the garden experts at Artificial Grass Direct help you keep your garden colourful this autumn/winter with their guide to cold weather potted plants.
Checkerberry
Brighten up your garden with a combination of striking red berries and colour changing leaves that range from fresh green to dark purple and red depending on the time of year. The Checkerberry is an attractive, evergreen shrub that has no problem growing in pots or containers provided it has access to the right amount of light. Checkerberry shrubs grow best in full sun or partial shade and prefer moist (but well drained!) and slightly acidic soil.
Pansies 
Pansies are colourful, cool-weather flowers with heart shaped petals. They thrive from autumn all the way through to spring but struggle with hot summers. If you’re planting afresh, you can actually give your Pansies a head-start by growing them indoors for six to eight weeks before moving them outside. It’s important to give your Pansies plenty of sun in spite of their cool weather preferences. Like the Checkerberry, they prefer moist but well drained soil. We recommend planting Pansies about 10 inches apart, giving them plenty of water, and using an all-purpose fertiliser to help them grow. 
Skimmia “Rubella”
The Skimmia Rubella is an evergreen shrub that boasts beautiful dark red flower buds throughout autumn and winter which then bloom into lightly coloured flowers in spring. It grows best in containers situated in partial to full shade. Rubella is a relatively low maintenance plant that only really needs trimming after it flowers. For optimum growth keep the soil moist and mulch annually with compost.
Snowdrops
Looking for a tough-as-nails plant that could even sprout in snow? Look no further. The aptly named Snowdrop enjoys full sun to light shade and light to moderate amounts of water. When planted in pots or containers it needs ample drainage as it rots easily in water-clogged soil. If you’re planting a fresh crop of Snowdrops, these beautiful little flowers need a good year to reach their full potential but once they do they can usually be left to their own devices. It’s recommended you let the flowers die back at the end of the flowering season as opposed to trimming them, as this is better for the bulbs.
Japanese Anemone
The Japanese Anemone is an autumn blooming flower that comes in a variety of beautiful colours ranging from pastel pinks and purples all the way to white. A very forgiving plant, it can grow in most soil types. Japanese Anemone require a combination of part sun and part shade for optimum growth. This plant is not a fan of dry roots, so it needs to be kept well-watered and well-mulched. Japanese Anemone do well in larger pots as opposed to ‘bed’ style containers as certain varieties can grow up to four feet tall and may need stalking to keep them from falling over.