YOUR GARDEN: GO TO POT NOW

BE ruthless and empty those summer pots now before they sink into decline and spoil the look of your garden.

You can save perennials such as pelargoniums and fuchsias for next year if you bring them into the warmth, but annuals will soon die once zapped by Jack Frost's icy finger.

Wash and store empty pots or better still fill them with fresh plants for autumn and winter interest. You can inject some instant colour onto your patio with Yoder chrysanthemums, bud heathers or Calluna vulgaris, autumn crocus and dwarf Michaelmas daisies.

However, if frost is forecast cover the pots at night with a sheet of horticultural fleece as these plants can't cope with sub-zero temperatures.

At the end of the month replace these stunning blooms with hardy Universal pansies and polyanthus. Colour match the varieties and fill gaps with the black, grassy foliage of Ophiopogon Nigrescens or steely blue Festuca glauca.

This type of scheme looks especially good in contemporary style containers such as tall, slender painted pots or galvanised buckets.

Pink or white pansies make great partners for ornamental cabbages and kale - and look especially good when planted together in shallow bowls. Don't forget winter heathers or Erica carnea for pots too. They bloom at the coldest time of year and will grow in both limy soil and semi-shade.

The white-flowered variety Golden Starlet has bright yellow foliage that turns lime green in winter and looks stunning with black grass or the silver variegated Euonymus Silver Queen. You could also add Helleborus niger or Christmas rose, white berried gaultheria and white kale - this arrangement is great for a big ornate terracotta pot.

If you're planning a pink colour scheme,consider Rosalie for late winter pots ... its bright blooms take a lot of beating.

Look for plenty of flower buds when you buy heathers. Colourful evergreen leaves will provide non-stop colour.

A must-have for winter containers is Leucothoe Rainbow, which has lovely arching zig-zagged branches clothed in green, cream and pink variegated leaves. For a leafy container arrangement - say in a half- barrel - add purple-leaved bergenia Purpurea, Heuchera Palace Purple or Tellima Purpurea and the golden variegated Euonymus Emerald 'n' Gold.

Plain or variegated-leaved ivy and vinca can be used to trail over the rim of the barrel.

Plant for perfume too. The red buds of Skimmia Rubella, which provide interest from October to April, eventually open to reveal scented white blooms.

Winter-flowering Mahonia japonica produces yellow tails of lily of the valley-scented flowers and of course, there's the unforgettable spicy scent of witch hazel to look forward to in the New Year.

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