Especially when the cloudy season begins, there should at least be splashes of color on the terrace or balcony. With the classic autumn flowers such as chrysanthemums, asters and bell heather, attractive arrangements can already be put together. Below is an overview of which hardy potted plants and balcony flowers are available for this time. In addition, tips for attractive combinations and the right care in frosty times. From now on there is no longer any excuse for dreary terraces and neglected balconies in the autumn and winter seasons.
Table of Contents
Flowering container plants from September
Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthenum)
There are around 5000 different cultivars of the robust chrysanthemums. Including many autumn varieties that bloom well into winter. Most often they are only planted for one season. But these balcony plants are also available as perennial, hardy varieties. When shopping, it is best to look for varieties that have grown “under the cloud”, such as hybrids of the Chinese chrysanthemum ‘Charm’ or ‘Morning Star’. Asters (Aster) Similar to the chrysanthemums, the autumn or winter asters are also available in many colors as potted plants. Among them there are low varieties, such as the pillow or carpet aster (Aster dumosus) and high-growing ones, such as the purple-colored Aster novae-angliae ‘evening sun’.
Note: There is a lot of confusion with chrysanthemums and asters. In botany, the aster is a separate genus of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), as is the chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum). Colloquially, late chrysanthemum varieties are also called winter or autumn asters.
Autumn anemones (Anemone hupehensis)
The autumn anemones also develop unusual flowers in planters, but only until October. Consistent cleaning of the flowers and mild autumn temperatures extend the flowering time of these balcony flowers.
Autumn sedum
The sedum plant that blooms in summer is almost indestructible. Most of them only bloom into late August. But an exception is the tall variety Hohes-Fettblatt ‘Herbstfreude’ (Sedum telephium), which blooms into autumn with lush pinkish-brown flower umbels.
Bell heather (Erica gracillis)
Indestructible, blooming balcony plants for autumn are the heather, also known as cap heather or bell heather. Common heather is a popular variety. The Erika flowers pink-red to deep purple or white. However, it is not hardy. For longer periods below 3 ° C, which is usually the case in December, it should be moved to a cool, frost-free room for the winter.
Pansy (viola wittrockiana hybrids)
There are also real winter bloomers among the pansy varieties. The Viola Wittrockiana hybrids can be planted in autumn. These are hardy balcony flowers that, depending on the weather, bloom until next spring. On particularly frosty, cold days they appear lifeless, but when the next ray of sunshine comes up, they wake up and stand like one in a flower box again.
Horned violets (Viola cornuta)
Hardy horned violets are, like some pansy varieties, tirelessly blooming flowers. Actually, it is the re-blooming that they produce in autumn and that often lasts into the new year. The small faces come in many shades of color, some varieties smell and can decorate salads and other dishes as edible flowers.
Balcony plants with berries
Peat myrtle (Pernettya mucronata)
The female peat myrtle is a special ornament. In autumn they draw attention to themselves with their wonderful, pearl-like white or purple berries. The small leaflets are evergreen. Over the winter, however, it only comes at relatively mild temperatures.
Gaultheria (Gaultheria)
Similar to the peat myrtle, the glowing berries also shine in autumn thanks to their red berries. In contrast with its evergreen foliage, it looks particularly magical, covered with a slight hoar frost. It also defies frosty winter temperatures and the berries last well into spring.
Special autumn and winter varieties
Not all of these balcony flowers bloom in autumn and winter, but it is still worth planting them in autumn, simply because of their attractive leaves. Most of them defy the winter temperatures and can be the first balcony plants to bloom in spring.
Houseleek (Sempervivum)
Numerous beautiful and bizarre, thick leaf shapes, even in the pot with absolute winter hardiness, that is what distinguishes houseleek. Frost cannot harm him, only when combined with moisture it means his end.
Hosta
In a tall vessel, hostas, heart lilies, cut a fine figure with their ornamental leaves. When shopping, pay attention to the leaf sizes so that they fit the container. Some varieties bloom late (August, September). Protected by a house wall, they can also survive the winter well.
Purple bell (Heuchera)
The purple bell is a decorative leaf plant. It doesn’t matter if the filigree flowers only last until September. The foliage is beautifully shaped and turns to all the browns and reds in the fall that last all winter. Here too, don’t forget to water it in winter.
Dickmännchen (Pachysandra)
A hardy ground cover from Japan is the Dickmännchen. A shade plant with evergreen, different colored leaves. Flowering is not expected until spring, but it can also be combined with grass or flowers in autumn.
Caucasus forget-me-nots (Brunnera macrophylla)
Among the Caucasus forget-me-not varieties there are also some quite hardy varieties, for example Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’. It shines in autumn mainly because of its silvery heart-shaped foliage. Flowering is not expected until spring.
Autumn gentian (Gentiana sino-ornata)
These deep blue flowers bloom in September and October. It grows crawling, carpets and is hardy. As a foliage-shedding, clump-forming plant, it can be wonderfully combined in planters with upright green decorative plants.
Autumn cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium)
Although the autumn cyclamen already blooms in summer, the decorative leaf decorations only really pick up speed in autumn and look good until November. The leaves are reminiscent of ivy leaves.
Skimmia (Skimmia)
Robust and used to the cold, the Skimmia , which comes from Japan, produces its bright red flower buds from October. The flowers only open in spring. The foliage is evergreen. She likes it cool and shady. If they are sheltered and protected a little in the case of hard frosts, they can survive the winter well.
Chinese lantern flower (Physalis alkekengi)
The lantern flower is not hardy in the bucket. But it is worthwhile to bring them to the terrace or balcony in autumn just because of the bright orange lanterns. Even in winter, the skeleton of the plant and the filigree lanterns consisting only of net veins are beautiful to look at. Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) The Christmas rose is a truly noble balcony plant that blooms in winter and is almost hardy. During hard frosts, she needs some protection in her planter. This should be big, especially deep enough, because the roots of the Christmas rose need enough space. Warning, it is poisonous in all parts.
Rushes (Juncus)
The corkscrew rush (Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’) in particular is well suited for bucket culture and at the same time something very special. With its evergreen and winding stalks, it is an eye-catcher all winter long. Even in winter you have to be careful to keep the soil constantly moist.
Spurge Family (Euphorbia)
The species Griffiths Spurge, Sweet Spurge and Purpurea are particularly suitable as balcony plants. They are characterized by their beautifully colored autumn leaves and their frost hardiness. Take care when cutting, the escaping juice can cause skin irritation.
The desire to combine
With evergreen upholstery shrubs, rock garden plants or late blooming flowers, together with decorative leaf plants, climbing ground cover, tall grass or small trees, wonderful arrangements can be created in the tub.
Pennisetum (Pennisetum)
There are different varieties in terms of appearance and height. Depending on the size of the vessel, you should pay attention to this when shopping. The stems and false ears cut a fine figure well into winter. In larger pots or boxes, the grass can be combined well with pillow asters or the sedum plant.
Sedge (Carex)
The sedge is one of the sour grasses. There is a wide range of different shapes. Many of these varieties are also evergreen. It is worth looking out for varieties that are particularly suitable for bucket culture, such as the fox-red sedge (Carex buchananii) or the white and white dwarf sedge (Carex conica ‘Snowline’). Blue fescue (Festuca caerulea) The blue fescue, also known as bearskin grass, is a sweet grass. It grows spherically with delicate blue-green, thin grasses. The blue fescue is only up to 30 centimeters high and is hardy. A very special and winter-proof combination is obtained in combination with a houseleek.
Dwarf arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
These slow-growing dwarf arborvitae are almost a must for winter arrangements on the terrace. They can be combined as you like with anything that has beautiful leaves or flowers. In addition, they are well hardy and a snow hood looks great on them.
Dwarf pine (Pinus pumila)
Growing dense and stocky, the dwarf pine looks beautiful as a solitary tree with its long needles. It is hardy and can be wonderfully combined with creeping stone species in the tub for winter.
Pfennigkraut (Lysimachia nummularia)
Even when the pennywort blooms in summer, as a ground cover in the tub or balcony box it crawls with its light green leaves over the edges of the planters. It can be combined with grasses, for example the water-loving rushes, as well as with large-leaved ornamental plants.
Ivy (Hedera Helix)
An easy-care, hardy classic that can be combined with numerous, colored autumn flowers, trees, grasses and ornamental foliage plants. It survives the winter effortlessly in the planter, but you shouldn’t forget to water it.
Creeping Gunsel (Ajuga reptans)
In its original form it is more of a weed and accordingly easy to care for and hardy. However, there are now also different cultivated forms with different leaf colors and shapes. It is suitable as a pretty underplanting of taller perennials or small trees in boxes and pots.
Ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
In autumn the ornamental cabbage shows all its colors. As a cabbage plant, related to kale, it can withstand freezing temperatures without any problems. Even if it is an eye-catcher on its own, it goes particularly well with heather in a planter.
Silver leaf (Jacobaea maritima or Senecio cineraria)
Also known as white felted or silver-colored ragwort, the silver leaf is sold everywhere in autumn. In itself rather bland, it creates charming contrasts in combination with autumn flowers. But even if it looks so frosty, the silver leaf is not hardy.
Planting and care
When buying the plants you should definitely consider that very few balcony flowers and potted plants for autumn are hardy. Many of these potted plants are declared “hardy”, but this usually applies to planting outdoors. Most plants need protection in the tub in winter or should be placed in a cool, frost-free room. Burying in a protected area in the open is also possible, depending on the plant.
If the balcony flowers or potted plants can overwinter outside, then you should definitely not forget to water them on frost-free days. Often the plants do not survive the winter, not because of the low temperatures, but because they dry out. It is not necessary to add fertilizer, the nutrients in the potting soil are sufficient for the winter season.
In addition, the larger the container, the more soil, the easier it is for the potted plants to survive the winter. In September and October the plants can be placed more densely in the tub than in spring. In the winter time, a large increase is hardly to be expected.
Tip: If you want to get off to a good start into spring when planting your autumn decorations, you can put a few colorful flower bulbs in the substrate.
Winter hardiness
When choosing a beautiful autumn planting, not only the look but also the winter hardiness of the flowers plays a decisive role. Not everything that is declared as “winter hardy” defies every temperature equally. In the open air, and also near the North Sea, a heather plant winters more easily than on a balcony at high altitudes in the Harz Mountains. Even the location at the house, whether windswept north-east facing or sheltered south facing, can decide whether the balcony flower or container plant will survive the winter.
The winter hardiness is divided into zones from Z1 (winter hardy below -45.5 ° C) to Z11 (at least constantly above 4.5 ° C). The temperatures relate to the average annual temperature, based on the air temperature, which should be at least given. In the German-speaking area, only zones 5 to 8 play a decisive role. The coldest is in the Alps (zone 5), the warmest on Heligoland (zone 8b), the rest is between 6 and 7.
Conclusion
In September and October you can begin to choose the right plants for the autumn decoration on the terrace or balcony. Anyone who has a garden can make provisions early in the year and grow the appropriate plants. It is important to ensure that it is attractive for as long as possible, either through flowers, colored berries or colored, evergreen foliage.