My husband is always telling me that hanging baskets remind him of his local pub. But I don’t care because I love them. When thinking of planting winter hanging baskets the Pansy always springs to mind (I say that now but didn’t at the start of summer). While walking around the garden center this year I saw the understated and often over looked Sweet William and wondered how it would look planted with Pansies. There are companies that charge an awful lot of money for plants for your hanging basket however if you go to your local garden center you can have a unique hanging basket for a fraction of the price. My summer hanging baskets were a complete failure, I planted Winter Pansies (not realizing there was such a thing) and they were well past their best. But they were cheap and I thought with a bit of love and attention that they would come to life. Big mistake. So for my winter hanging baskets, having read about Pansies, I decided to try again with them , only this time in winter. I saw the Sweet Williams with the winter bedding plants and remembered them from when I was a young girl. When I pointed them out to my husband he said why didn’t I buy some, so I did. I always prefer the hessian type basket but that really is a personal preference. I purchased some cheap potting mix from Aldi (not sure about it as it seems to be full of roots and sticks). I half fulled the basket with potting mix, cut some holes in the side of the hessian and stuck my plants through. More potting mix and then Sweet Williams at the top. Will Sweet Williams look good all winter with the Pansies? I will let you know in a few months time. And if it doesn’t? Well I guess the Sweet William will stay on the garden center shelves next year.
Gardening for bees 