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@Balc You could try Bellis or dwarf wallflowers . Pansy - violas tend to preform better planting late winter / spring than on this side of winter from my own experience

 

You could try some early flowering bulbs @Balc The smaller crocuses flower very early, and snowdrops start flowering in February too. Eranthis is another early bulb.
Primroses also flower early, even in February if the weather isn't too bad - I mean the wild ones if you can get them in a garden centre, but you can also buy the coloured ones in early spring.
I've got a nice white Hellebore in a pot that starts flowering in the new year too. They grow well in pots. Or maybe a small evergreen shrub would look nice, such as Skimmia, they grow nicely in pots. There's a pretty variegated one called 'Magic Marlot'.

 

@Balc , heathers, Gaultheria and evergreen small grasses like Festuca will see you through until the first Snowdrops get up.

Do buy solar lights, any light outside the living room window looks magical in the winter darkness.

Coming back to the topic, I bought a Dinosaur Egg. I don't in general have tinned tomatoes scattered around the night garden, it's there just to illustrate the size of the pebble

Anyways I'm most pleased with my egg and it has stopped the dreaded slug stepping-ons

The Child tries to grab the remote control (how posh is that- a garden light with a remote control! ) to change the cool Skandi bright white into a pulsating pink or colour changing setting

 

Not grown Onions before, so after moderate success with Potatoes I decided to send for some Senshyu sets to plant now
From eBay

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I have mostly planted Pansies or Violas at the end of October but seeing them collapse & turn brown for several years in a row I am looking for something different. I had thought of Heathers but the only ones I see around here are the artificially coloured ones which I don't like. I don't understand how people can like them, I think they look ugly!

I underplant the plants in pots with bulbs most years but last year, (this spring actually), I had to remove almost all the Pansies very early because the majority had succumbed to the dreaded pansy virus much earlier than in previous years.

I've bought some Cyclamen to put in their place this year but I'm not sure they will flower as long as the Pansies do. As for most of the other suggestions they don't flower as long as the Viola family or only start when winter is coming to an end which will still leave me with looking at pots of green leaves but no other colours like with Pansies.

I have had a Skimmia on the balcony floor for 4 or 5 years but this year it has looked very much under the weather! I repotted it but it still languished all summer. I was worried that it might die but in the last few weeks it has perked up a bit & is now making flower buds. It's a male plant unfortunately so it doesn't have any berries

 

Winter is mostly like that @Balc. I've never been able to grow winter pansies so you've had more colourful winters than I have.

 

I always thought so called Winter pansies to be a garden centre con.
True they may do reasonably well in a very sheltered position, but mostly they become a bedraggled mess before perking up around late March.

 

I just ordered a plug plant of Gardenia jasminoides Double from Spain ...

 

@pete, till this virus came around I used to have Pansies in flower all winter. Not many it's true but a couple of flowers in each of the pots (10) on the balcony railings & a few in each of the troughs on the balcony floor always made the winter on the balcony look more cheerful. Then they were an explosion of colour in April/May. I should try & see if I have some pictures from a few years ago, from before the virus, to show you. But as they may be on the HDD of my old computer I may not have any on this one. Nevertheless I'll have a look to see if I can find some.

 

Semprevivum Supersemps Onyx from Alnwick garden plant sale (I heroically resisted the broken off sideshoots in the tray and actually paid for the plant).

It's about the size of a saucer.



Houseplant and succulent seeds for something to check over the winter months. The Bamboo (Bambusa Bambos) is apparently going to be rather interesting houseplant with thorns and potential height of 30m.

"Neil" is not a plant but just a little mistake from World Wonders Gardens - Seed Specialist , Neil very quickly replied and sent the Ice plant seeds the same day and let me keep the Metrosideros.

I think Neil has a knack on customer service:
"Gah, sorry, trying to be too quick I guess! The correct ones are in this afternoons mailout, dont worry about sending back the wrong ones, my mistake!"

I like the shop and the service


Labelling on courtesy of The Child.

 

Needed to cheer myself up so I bought this, it will help with the winter pruning once I get going again, gives me something to aim for.

 

Wow, you will need arm and leg strength for that!

 

As long as it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.
I shall miss my old bow saw, but it needed a new blade.

 

Is that a battery one @pete ? I have a Ryobi one+ chainsaw and it's brilliant! Surprising how useful even a 12 inch blade is

 

Yes battery one, I shyed away from petrol as usually unless you buy top notch stuff after a winter in the shed they never start again, its 36volt, takes two 18 volt batteries which I already have so it seemed the best choice.