Instant Winter White: Frosty Container Displays

Glistening snow blankets the landscape at higher elevations this month—a look we love around the holidays. White blooms or silvery foliage in white or nearly white containers bring that frosty ambience into your garden.

Slide Show: Ideas for beautiful white and silver plants

Most plants here are perennials, so keep them on your patio until blooms fade or they outgrow containers, then transplant into larger pots or garden beds.

How to Design with Whites

Enhance all-white plantings with decorative items in pure white, ivory, and cream.

• For a soothing glow, place frosted glass votives between small white containers on a table.
• On covered patios, set white or ivory cushions on chairs and chaises near pots. Toss a soft fleece or wool blanket over cushions.
• Arrange conifer sprigs in milky white vases or pinecones in ivory bowls among small pots. Set a bundle of birch branches tied with white twine nearby.
• Top-dress container soil with white or blue tumbled glass that looks frosty by day and glistens on candlelit nights. Available at craft stores or by mail from Bedrock Industries (877/283-7625) or Building Resources (415/285-7814).

Indoor Snow

White flowers remind us of freshly fallen snow, but shades of white stir other seasonal memories: icicles glistening on winter mornings, breath forming cloudy puffs, angel costumes in Christmas pageants, even froth on eggnog. These associations make white-flowered plants nearly irresistible during holidays, and the gift-plant industry offers more choices every year. The scene at right shows a sampling: Dendrobium orchids in silvery cachepots, a single begonia, white azaleas, a large peace lily (Spathiphyllum), a cineraria, and a hydrangea.

In mild-winter climates, you can put azaleas, cineraria, and hydrangea outdoors after holidays. Remember many holiday plants are forced into bloom and will revert to natural cycles after winter flowering.

Indoors, give plants a cool spot with bright, indirect light away from drafts and heating vents. Water when top ½ inch of soil becomes dry. — Sharon Cohoon