In winter, winter bloomers and other winter plants add color to the gray everyday life. There is an extensive selection of hardy specimens suitable for cultivation on the balcony.
Table of Contents
winter bloomers
Besenheide ‚Melanie‘ (Calluna vulgaris ‚Melanie‘)
- Bushy, cushion-like growing winter flowers
- Growth width: 30 to 60 centimeters
- Growth height: 30 to 60 centimeters
- Flower colors: pure white
- Flowering period: September to December
- Winter protection: very hardy
- Special features: there are other heather varieties, but most of them only bloom in early spring
Christrosen (Helleborus niger)
- wintergreen
- Growth width: 30 to 40 centimeters
- Growth height: ten to 30 centimeters
- Flower colors: white, yellowish, lilac, pink, multicolored
- Flowering time: January to April, depending on the weather also possible between September and February
- Winter protection: very frost-resistant, only roots should be covered with straw or similar
- Special features: poisonous perennial
Erika Heide-Winterblüher (Erica x darleyensis)
- Evergreen, bushy growth
- Growth width: between 30 and 40 centimeters
- Growth height: between 30 and 30 centimeters
- Flower colors: white, pink, multicolored, rarely in shades of yellow
- Flowering time: October to April, some varieties as early as September (e.g. South African heather (Erica verticillata))
- Winter protection: conditionally hardy – needs protection from the cold from zero degrees Celsius
- Special features: very easy to care for and durable
Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica)
- Evergreen, early bloomer
- Growth width: between 80 and 120 centimeters
- Growth height: between 100 and 200 centimeters
- Flower colors: white to pink
- Flowering time: February to April
- Winter protection: needs winter protection and a sheltered location
- Special features: only suitable for cultivation in tubs on balconies
Lenzrose (Helleborus x orientalis)
- Evergreen, upright inflorescences
- Growth width: between 40 and 60 centimeters
- Growth height: between 20 and 40 centimeters
- Flower colors: purple, pink, red
- Flowering time: February to April
- Winter protection: isolate the root area at minus temperatures below seven degrees Celsius
- Special features: poisonous plant
Lorbeer-Schneeball ‘Gwenllian’ (Viburnum tinus ‘Gwenllian’)
- Compact, dense, upright habit, evergreen
- Growth width: between 60 and 100 centimeters
- Growth height: between 100 and 150 centimeters
- Flower colors: white to pink
- Flowering time: November to April
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: only suitable for cultivation in tubs on balconies
Wild snowdrops (Queen Olga and Galanthus peshmenii)
- Evergreen, bushy growth
- Growth width: between 10 and 20 centimeters
- Growth height: about ten to 15 centimeters
- Flower colors: white
- Flowering time: October to spring
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: are under species protection, further concerns only arise from February
Winterblüte (Chimonanthus praecox)
- Deciduous, shrubby growth
- Growth width: between 150 and 250 centimeters
- Growth height: between 200 and 300 centimeters
- Flower colors: white, pink, multicolored, rarely in shades of yellow
- Flowering period: between January and March
- Winter protection: very hardy
- Special features: intense vanilla scent, only suitable for containers and large balconies, needs a sunny location
Winterjasmin (Jasminum nudiflorum)
- Climbing plant and groundcover, shrubby growth
- Growth width: up to 200 centimeters
- Growth height: up to 300 centimeters
- Flower colors: bright yellow
- Flowering period: between December and March
- Winter protection: no protection against the cold required down to minus ten degrees Celsius
- Special features: strongly overhanging, can be kept to smaller dimensions by pruning, keeping buckets on the balcony
Witch hazel (Hamamelis intermedia)
‚Orange Beauty‘
- Medium-tall, broadly upright shrub, deciduous
- Growth width: up to 175 centimeters
- Growth height: up to 350 centimeters
- Flower colors: yellow to orange
- Flowering period: January to February
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: can be kept to smaller sizes by pruning, keep in containers on the balcony, autumn leaves in golden-red tones
‚Angelly‘
- Compact growth, deciduous
- Growth width: between 80 and 100 centimeters
- Growth height: between 100 and 160 centimeters
- Flower colors: yellow
- Flowering period: early February – late March
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: can also be kept in larger balcony boxes by pruning, autumn leaves in yellow and whitish tones
Green/evergreen winter plants
Bläuliche Wolfsmilch (Euphorbia seguieriana subsp. Niciciana)
- Upright habit, leafy stems, evergreen
- Growth width: between 30 and 40 centimeters
- Growth height: between 30 and 40 centimeters
- Flowers: light yellow May to August
- Winter foliage: blue-grey wintergreen
- Winter protection: no winter protection required up to minus ten degrees
- Special features: a real eye-catcher all year round
Dwarf juniper (Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’)
- Evergreen, spreading, slow growing
- Growth width: between 100 and 150 centimeters
- Growth height: between 50 and 100 centimeters
- Flowers: June to July
- Needles: blue-silvery
- Winter protection: from minus 15 degrees Celsius
- Special features: ideal for long balcony raised beds
Löffel-Ilex ‚Dark Green‘ (Ilex crenata ‚Dark Green‘)
- Upright to bushy growth
- Growth width: between 80 and 180 centimeters depending on pruning
- Growth height: between 80 and 250 centimeters depending on pruning
- Flowers: none
- Foliage: evergreen
- Winter protection: can easily be stored down to minus 15 degrees Celsius without winter protection
- Special features: ideal alternative to boxwood, very easy to cut
Mini boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
- Spherical growth
- Growth width: up to about 20 centimeters
- Growth height: between 28 and 30 centimeters
- Flowers: none
- Foliage: evergreen
- Winter protection: can be stored without winter protection down to minus 15 degrees Celsius, cover the root area if kept in tubs
- Special features: very compatible with cuts and easy to shape
Seggen (Carex)
- Suitable for balcony boxes
- New Zealand sedge (Carex testacea)
- Japan-Goldsegge (Carex oshimensis ‚Evergold‘)
- Raue Segge (Carex hirta)
- Weißrand-Segge (Carex morrowii ‚Icedance‘)
- Evergreen, early bloomer
- Flowering time: February to April
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: often two-tone leaves and golden tones in autumn
Winter-Schachtelhalm (Equisetum hyemale var. robustum)
- Bamboo-like, very slender, upright growth
- Growth width: between 20 and 60 centimeters
- Growth height: between 100 and 150 centimeters
- Flowers: June to July
- Foliage: evergreen
- Winter protection: from minus twelve degrees Celsius
- Special features: offers ideal privacy protection for dense growth
Dwarf Globe Arborvitae ‘Danica’ (Thuja occidentalis ‘Danica’)
- Spherical growth
- Growth width: between 80 and 100 centimeters
- Growth height: between 60 and 80 centimeters
- Flowers: none
- Winter foliage: evergreen
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: very robust and durable
Multicolored plants for the winter
Ivy (Hedera helix)
- Climbing, ground covering
- Growth length: up to 500 meters depending on the variety
- Flowers: after ten years at the earliest
- Winter foliage: evergreen, green-whitish combinations
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: suitable for cultivation in balcony boxes, tubs and as a hanging basket or tendril
Japanese Spindle (Euonymus japonicus)
- Compact, bushy, upright habit, evergreen
- Growth width: between 70 and 130 centimeters
- Growth height: between 60 and 150 centimeters
- Flowers: white-green between June and July
- Winter foliage: evergreen, variegated yellow-green
- Winter protection: no
- Special features: ideal for keeping buckets on balconies
Traubenheide ‚Scarletta’/’Zeblid‘ (Leucothoe ‚Scarletta’/’Zeblid‘)
- Evergreen, shrubby growth
- Growth width: between 60 and 80 centimeters
- Growth height: between 30 and 40 centimeters
- Flowers: white, fragrant, between May and June
- Winter foliage: reddish with bronze from about autumn
- Winter protection: very hardy
- Special features: should be in the shade/partial shade
Palm trees as balcony plants in winter
Blue Hesperid Palm (Brahea armata)
- Fan palm, evergreen
- Growth height: in the garden bed up to five meters – can be controlled in the bucket by pruning
- Leaves: blue-silver-grey
- Winter protection: cold protection recommended below five degrees Celsius, can withstand short periods of up to minus ten degrees Celsius
- Special features: needs a sunny, wind-protected location, also suitable as an indoor palm
Blue Dwarf Palm (Chamaerops humilis var. Cerifera)
- Evergreen, multi-stemmed summer and winter plants
- Height of growth: maximum five meters, much shorter in pots
- Leaves: blue-green
- Winter hardiness: up to minus eleven degrees Celsius and briefly down to minus 15 degrees Celsius without winter protection
- Special features: it is best to place it under a roof, as it cannot cope with too much moisture
European dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis)
- periwinkle
- Height of growth: maximum five meters, much shorter in pots
- Leaves: dark green, stiff, resistant
- Winter hardiness: up to minus 13 degrees Celsius in a wind-protected location
- Special features: needs a lot of water in summer
Guadeloupe Palme (Brahea edulis)
- periwinkle
- Growth height: in the garden bed up to 17 meters – can be controlled by pruning in the bucket
- Leaves: blue-silver-grey
- Winter protection: from minus seven degrees Celsius
- Special features: spreads enormous Caribbean flair, dark location required in winter
Yatay Dwarf Palm (Butia paraguayensis)
- Evergreen, short stature
- Height of growth: maximum two meters
- Leaves: Green reaching far into the crown
- Winter hardiness: down to minus eleven degrees Celsius, briefly down to minus 15 degrees Celsius
- Special features: spherical-oval-shaped stem in the bucket
Winter plants with fruits/berries
Japanese Blossom Skimmia (Skimmia japonica)
- Compact, bushy growth, evergreen
- Growth width: between 100 and 150 centimeters
- Growth height: between 60 and 100 centimeters
- Flowers: white to pink from April to May, colored buds appear from October
- Fruits: bright red fruit balls from October
- Winter protection: no winter protection required down to minus five degrees
- Specials: very easy to care for
Red carpet berry (Gaultheria procumbens)
- Creeping, carpet-like growth, evergreen
- Growth width: between 30 and 40 centimeters
- Growth height: between 10 and 20 centimeters
- Flowers: light pink from July to August
- Fruits: red, pink, white from September to spring
- Winter protection: no winter protection required up to minus ten degrees
- Special features: deep red to violet autumn leaves
frequently asked Questions
There are both variants. The winter bloomers mentioned here are mostly perennial specimens. If you don’t have space for additional summer bloomers on the balcony, you should combine perennial winter bloomers with green or fruit winter plants that bloom in spring/summer.
It is important for these plants that they are not too wet in winter. Above all, most of them do not tolerate waterlogging, which is why there should always be a water drainage hole. Not all winter plants are absolutely hardy. Potted plants in particular should always be placed on ground insulation so that the roots are protected. Furthermore, some do not tolerate icy drafts. In this case, make sure that the balcony is sheltered from the wind.
That depends on when they have their flowering time and how long it takes for the flowers to form. The recommended planting date is usually between October and December during frost-free days. Most winter plants need this time so that they can get used to their new location and establish themselves in the soil. Early bloomers are often only planted between January and the beginning of March. otherwise perennial winter bloomers can of course move into the bucket or balcony box all year round.
