We have planters built into our balcony, and the plants in it will be coming to an end soon. Not being terribly green fingered, what plants would work on a balcony here to give a bit of winter colour.

Winter heathers are out now in Garden centers and you get them in all colours. I really like winter Pansies in yellow purples and reds and they will last right up to April May - great value for money. You can put a little bit of Ivy in between the pansies or heather to give a variation and then leave the ivy there all year if you wish, just keep it trimmed.

Not much of a green thumb either but thinking as well about our planters - here was a website I found that gave some ideas:

http://www.wintergardeningtips.com/o...denplants.html

Some other suggestions:

Sun Bedding Plants
For those sunny and partly sunny areas, these bedding plants will provide color from fall through winter. Plant these varieties beginning in October or when heat and winds have past: Pansy, Snapdragon, Iceland Poppy, Garden Mums, Linaria, Nemesia, Ranunculus, Anemone, Calendula, Stock, Sweet Pea, Violas.

Happy planting!

Some of those plants will not last the winter and it is better to get plants that flower through out winter and spring. Another added options is to plant some tulip bulbs(or daffodils) under your heathers and pansies and so they come up in April and are a nice surprise. When planting bulbs the rule is to plant them 3 times their depth(and a little more) otherwise they come up blind i.e without flower.

hey PG, thanks for starting this thread, am looking for plants for my winter garden too. do u have a regular or winter garden?

Here no just the planters on the balcony unfortunatly. In Scotland half an acre, and a big one in France to, but reckon anything I know about wouldn't hack it here.

Our apartment is great but we miss the garden, so when we get our 1st year out of the way a place with a garden will be top of our list.

For my balcony I have small firs with ivy at the bottom and some pansies(try to get the ones with the smiley faces)in between. There are some colourful green leaved plants that you could use and you should have no problem over the winter.
It is possible to plant some herbs for cooking aswell.

Which ones have you grown? I only have rosemary at the moment that seems to be able to survive the winter (not sure about my thyme - needs some attention at the moment.)

If your thyme is anything like mine it's probably got old & tired(a wee bit like meself) and needs to be dug up and spilt in to 2 or 4 pieces, depending how big the plant is to begin with. Replant it, throwing away the grubby bald center of the plant, this invigorates the plant and it grows then as separate ones: 2 new plants for the price of one. Give the soil a bit of a shake up throw a little fertisler/food in there(I use tomato dry feed/Dungen) Mine tends to survive the winter but most other herbs are best planted in the Spring. However, you can get away with keeping parsley and coriander too over winter just need to protect them from the frost. Balcony plants do better as they have more protection. If you are planting Mint be warn it's a vigorous bugger and will spread like crazy and grow into all your other plants. It is best planted in a container pot in the larger planter or keep it in a separate pot.

How large are the planters? Are you looking for something to give a bit of privacy or just colour?

There are some shrubs that do well in planters as the roots are not extremely deep. Some bloom once a year.

We have been recently looking into the various options for our garden as well and after visiting several garden centres, with everyone having a different opinion, we have narrowed down our options.

Just colour really, by the time we arrived and settled in we put in a load of Chrysanthemums (bet I spelt that wrong ) but I think by Novemebr they'll have had it.

The balcony is a decent size so having tubs on the ground wouldn't be a problem, thats where we want to plant nice scented plants like Jasmine in thesummer. The planters form part of the wall so re about 100cm high, the side one is about 30cm x 200cm and the other 30cm x 800 cm, and they are both about 20 cm deep.

You could try an Acer, a hardy shrub in a pot - beautiful leaves all year round that go bright red before they fall in Autumn and at Christmas you can hang some delicate decorations on the branches http://www.bloomingdirect.com/p/Acer...utm_medium=CPA.
For scent all Summer try sowing sweet peas seeds the planter against the wall. Sweet pea seeds are hardy and will grow well - plant in Feb and tie them up on a trellis or wall as the grow up.. the smell is heavenly especially in the evening when you sit out there.. will bring butterflies in too.

Unlike back home, I do know things grow here. But I can't help but put the same in my flower boxes that I did back home.

I cover the bottom with a green moss and add evergreen branches and holly branches with berries. I also accent them with pine cones and white, red, and natural colored twigs that you can find in the florist shop, real or fake. It's a no fuss, no care arrangement, that lasts all winter, with just the right amount of color. It's also quite festive for the holidays, but not overly festive for the non holidays.

I can't find a photo. But sort of picture just taking a christmas wreath apart and arranging it in your flower box. Without the tacky factor. Actually, that is what I did one year and it turned out fab.