If you’re proud of your home and landscape, you want to give it an attractive face to the world. Containers full of blooming flowers are the best way to dress up your front porch, walkway, or patio. Here’s how to get started.
Let’s begin with a few critical basics.
- Sunlight: Where are your containers situated, and how much sun will they get? Whether sunny or shady, make sure to choose container-friendly blooms suited to the growing environment.
- Container Size: Bigger pots are better because they can hold more soil and retain more moisture, whereas small pots will dry out quickly. For most plants, the container should be at least 8” deep.
- Soil: Always use a light, moisture-retaining potting mix in your containers.
Now it’s time to get creative! Here are six quick flower container tips to inspire your plantings.
1. Go for Contrast
A container of bold, contrasting colors is sure to catch the eyes of visitors and passersby. Consider a mix of vibrant, compact zinnias in bright white, yellow, and pink for a sunny spot. If your outdoor space is shaded, impatiens or begonias are an attractive alternative. Dress up your garden for summer celebrations with a patriotic red, white and blue planter.
2. Blend Complementary Colors
For a softer statement, pick a palette of one or two harmonious hues. Soft lavender petunias pair nicely with purple-blue calibrachoa (mini pansies or violet verbenas). Shades of pink add romantic tones to your containers. If you prefer warmer hues, try a gradient of yellow and orange flowers, such as marigolds.
3. Set up Layers
Use flowers and foliage of differing habits to add a vertical dimension to your containers. The phrase “a thriller, a filler, and a spiller” is a helpful way to think about assembling a dynamic container planting.
4) Add Foliage for Flair
Flowers tend to be the container stars, but foliage plays an important supporting role. Leafy plants lend intriguing texture and set a solid backdrop against which flower colors can pop. Elephant ear’s massive leaves make for a stunning centerpiece, while velvety Dusty Miller plants add silvery glamour. Multicolored coleus and perilla are so striking that they may just steal the show!
5) Consider the Container
Choose plants that suit the size and type of container you’re using, whether that’s a pot, window box or hanging basket. A tall container looks best with a trailing plant over the side, as do hanging baskets. Smaller pots, on the other hand, can get lost in a cascade and are perfect for displaying mounding flower varieties. Plant so that the container is eye-catching at any angle. While a window box needs to wow from the front, a pot or hanging basket has more vantage points.
- Thrillers: Place tall plants in the middle or back of the container to create a strong focal point. Annual salvias, verbena, ‘Dwarf Mixture’ canna, and short sunflower varieties such as ‘Honeybear’ provide height to pots in sunny places. In shade, try ‘Black Magic’ elephant ear or Pennisetum ornamental grass for color and lift.
- Fillers: Plants that grow in mounds occupy the space around the base of the thriller, creating another band of color. Geraniums and petunias fit right into this mid-range space. The vivid leaves of coleus work well as fillers in shady containers.
- Spillers: Use plants that spread out with long vines to create a cascade effect that goes beyond the top rim of the pot. ‘Trailing Burgundy’ vinca and sweet potato vine (aka ipomoea), and calibrachoa serve in the spiller role in sunny conditions. The bright green foliage of Creeping Jenny ‘Goldilocks’ stands out in a shady container.
6) Keep It Simple
If you don’t feel like designing a combination for your container, you can always plant just one variety that stands out on its own! ‘Peppermint Twist’ geranium has spectacular candy-red petals with stripes. ‘Fragrant Falls Peach’ and ‘Vermillion Red’ begonias both look beautiful solo in shade containers. For a mix of colorful foliage and flowers, try ‘Sol Gekko Green’ or ‘Sol Lizzard Leaf’ celosia.