The last leaves of summer were looking sorry. So Gina Parkinson set to restoring the hanging basket.

OUR hanging basket and container by the front door had finally descended into a mass of dying foliage and flowers. So they were cleared and replanted for the winter last weekend.

Filled with lobelia, impatiens and a new large-flowered brachycome, they have lasted for months and provided a good display of non-stop flowers throughout the summer.

However, by mid October they were looking worse for wear and the time had come to replace summer with winter.

For the hanging basket I chose three small-flowered cyclamen in shades of rich pink and several soft blue violas.

There are already a couple of ground cover hardy geraniums in the basket that have formed a mat of small, deeply cut leaves some of which have turned brilliant orange as well as a variegated fuchsia.

The fuchsia isn't necessarily hardy but it has survived one winter outside and in a sheltered spot near a house wall it may well cope again. It has red-veined, cream-margined green leaves tinged with pink that echo the colours of the cyclamen. With luck it will keep its leaves for the next few weeks.

Directly beneath the hanging basket is a large, frost-proof terracotta pot permanently planted with hostas, spring bulbs such as miniature daffodils and grape hyacinth, and a young shrub, Photinia fraseri 'Red Robin'.

In time this last plant will get too big for the pot and will need to be put into the garden; but for the moment its evergreen leaves give long interest and in spring the new, bright red growth will brighten its shady corner.

The hostas were disappointing this year and were ravaged by snails almost as soon as they poked their shoots through the soil.

Apart from pellets everything has been tried to deter these pests but to no avail and I have reached the reluctant conclusion that they will have to go. For the moment, however, they are resting in the dark and who knows perhaps next year will be better for them.

The spaces around these plants have been filled with white-flowered heather, a white cyclamen, variegated ivy and blue violas like those in the hanging basket.

Since the two containers make up a unit it is good to have plants that reflect each other without planting them up with exactly the same things.

The heather is a winter-flowering variety called 'Alicia' with dark foliage and lots of upright stems laden with flowers; two plants put by each other are enough to form a good clump.

Alongside is the cyclamen with white-marbled, dark green leaves and no flowers yet but plenty of buds. Variegated ivy hangs over the side and the blue violas are dotted about to break up the whites and greens of the rest of the plants.

Updated: 09:19 Saturday, October 25, 2003