Mine did last year - so I hope they do this year

I'm looking at planting up a winter flowering heather and some cyclamen coum (winter flowering cyclamen Jan-March) in my half-barrel.

You cant beat good old Buxus (Box) for all year round intrest.Box is normally used for topiary and always looks great in pots.I've got several shapes dotted round garden (ball,pyramid,tube) and always bring a bit of cheer during the gloomy days of winter!

Can be expensive to buy if you go for ready pruned shapes (around £30 for a 12" ball),but plants can be bought for around £2 each and need a few years of regular clipping to achieve a good shape.

I agree Steve. When I was looking for box plants 16 years ago, they were very hard to find and quite expensive. No they're 'in vogue', so they've become much cheaper, except for the 'preformed' ones.

They are really easy to reproduce from cuttings - use a sand and compost mix. I have a couple of variegated yews as well - good colouring and berries too.

Mind you, both the box and yew are poisonous to man and dog so be careful.

The most expensive Box topiary i've ever seen was a full sized man playing golf-this was a gobsmacking £850!!!

I took a load of cuttings a few years ago and gave these away once rooted to friends & family.All my topiarys are grown from cheapo non pruned plants which admittingly took 4 years of regular clipping to achieve a shape i wanted,but well worth the wait!

I knew that Yew is poisonous,but not that Buxux is also-cheers!