Anonymous wrote:How about those cabbage-y looking plants? I think pansies also like cold.

You're thinking of ornamental kale. Besides that and pansies, you could also get evergreens, holly, and/or Southern magnolia to make a holiday display. I think I saw some great photos like this in Fine Gardening or Garden Design (look online). It will probably look dried out and wilted at some point, so then you might have a period with nothing in your planters. In late Feb/early March, you could pick up some pansies and pots of forced daffodills to fill the planters out again. If you plant ornamental kale and/or pansies, they should last through the spring as long as you water them (the pansies will wilt below freezing and then revive when the weather is nicer).

winter pansies for color

boxwood
evergreens (small)
cypress

Keep in mind they may crack/freeze - are they plastic or terra cotta or iron?

Ornamental kale.

How about those cabbage-y looking plants? I think pansies also like cold.

Small rosemary bushes or trees. You can transplant them in the spring if you want.

I have a couple of large flower pots on my front porch that contained impatiens in the summer/fall. I'm wondering ... is there anything I can put in them over the winter, or should I just empty them out and store them?