Quick winter spruce-ups

4. Brighten a border

Supplement existing plants, such as the azaleas and ferns pictured above, with an edging of white cyclamen.

Tuck lamium or a similar variegated plant between the cyclamen to add a lacy skirt of frosty-looking greenery.

5. Plant a border in pots

Enhance narrow in-ground beds with a row of potted plants.

In the small, shaded side yard at right, cylindrical chocolate brown pots filled with white cyclamen line up against the raised border's low brick wall, making the fern-filled planting appear deeper than it is.