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How to Style a Thriving Container Garden
Plus, a selection of colorful flowers and plants you should consider for your pots.
Planters, window boxes, and hanging baskets provide splashes of color on patios, around pools, or scattered throughout your landscape. No garden is complete without them! They’re ideal if you have poor soil or when you need to protect plants from hungry garden visitors such as rabbits and deer. Strategically-placed planters also can screen a view or provide a sense of delineation for different outdoor rooms. As the summer wanes and annuals begin to fade, it’s also easy to remove spent plants from containers to tuck in a few seasonal favorites such as chrysanthemums or ornamental kale.
But there are a few tricks to designing containers so they’re lavish and eye-catching. Sparse is never a good look, so place plants fairly close together. You also must remember that containers tend to dry out more quickly than landscape beds, so you’ll need to check them frequently in hot weather. Pots made from materials that are porous, such as terra cotta, also dry out more quickly because moisture evaporates more rapidly than from non-porous materials such as metal. Here’s how to create extraordinary planters by following these simple design tips:
Follow the spiller, thriller, filler design concept.
Your focus should be to combine different forms of plants to provide dimension, depth and interest to pots. There are three key categories of plants when styling your container: Spillers are plants that tumble over the edges of pots; thrillers are plants that provide height or a dramatic effect; and fillers are plants that add mass and fullness. By combining plants from each group, you’ll create a pleasing appearance that works no matter what the season. It’s also fine to plant all of one type of plant in a container if that’s more aesthetically pleasing to you.
Combine plants with similar needs.
Keep plants with similar needs in one pot. In other words, you shouldn’t plant a sun-lover such as calibrachoa with a shade lover such as lobelia. Perennials such as hosta and lavender also can be incorporated, though they may not return next year if you live in a cold climate because the pot doesn’t insulate roots like the ground does. However, there’s a slight exception to this rule: If you choose a perennial that’s at least two USDA Hardiness zones tougher than yours, it may survive to return next year. For example, if you live in zone 5, choose a perennial that’s hardy to zone 3. (Find your zone here). The same rule applies to shrubs, which make excellent container plants.
Choose colors you love.
Like interior design, color combinations are personal preference, but complementary colors on the color wheel, such as orange and blue, are rather striking together. Or go monochromatic with various hues of a similar shade in one pot. Don’t be afraid to mix in plants that are grown strictly for their colorful foliage, such as caladiums or heucheras.
Match the plants to the container style.
Consider the style of the container when choosing plants. A salvaged copper boiler looks amazing with cottage garden flowers draping over the edges, while striking upright grasses look at home in metal containers with an industrial edge. You also may wish to choose planters that coordinate with the style of your home.
Trust your instincts.
Remember that your planters are a reflection of your own creativity and personal style. There really are no steadfast rules except one: Choose what you love because your garden should always bring you joy!
Here are a few of our favorite plants from each category for inspiration:
Spiller: Double Blue Double Calibrachoa
Spiller: Double Blue Double Calibrachoa
These annuals are long bloomers, showing off from spring to frost. They come in every color imaginable with single or double petunia-like flowers. Best of all, they require no deadheading (removing spent flowers) to continue blooming.
This elegant grass has bronze foliage and beautiful feathery plumes that sway in the breeze. It’s considered an annual in most of the country but is perennial in warmer climates.
This romantic favorite makes a lovely container planting with its silvery foliage and fragrant blooms and leaves. Plant it with other cottage garden favorites such as roses.
The blossoms of this cascading annual are fan-shaped. They’re available in shades of pink, purple and white and provide long-lasting color to containers.
This petite shrub is the little brother of larger varieties which reach 10 feet or more. Their arching branches and nonstop blooms attract pollinators all summer long. Make sure to purchase a dwarf variety.
Beautiful upright spikes of flowers, reminiscent of snapdragons, cover this plant until a freeze. Angelonia comes in shades of white, pink, purple and works well as a thriller plant, too.
This vigorous annual vine has lime green or burgundy leaves, adding texture and color to any planter. Give them ample room, as they can overwhelm other flowers when planted in a container that’s too small.
Begonias are available in a wide range of sizes and forms, some of which are grown strictly for their showy foliage. However, this variety offers nonstop blooms without deadheading until a hard frost. They’re available in deep red, pink or white varieties.
Masses of snowy white flowers, reminiscent of mist, cover this annual from spring to frost. It’s heat and drought tolerant. There are several sizes, so read the plant tag or description to know which one you’re buying.
This lovely annual has abundant, fragrant white or pink flowers that cover the plant from spring to fall; they’ll even withstand a light frost. They come in a variety of sizes, so read the plant label to choose a larger size that will drape gracefully over the edges of pots. Pollinators love sweet alyssum!
These beloved shrubs come in hundreds of varieties, sizes, and colors. Their papery blooms start mid-summer and often remain on the branches until spring, providing winter interest. Choose dwarf varieties that fit nicely in containers.
This perennial herb adds texture as it drapes over the edges of containers. The plants also flower in early summer, attracting pollinators such as bees. This is one of the few herbs that will tolerate some shade.
Caladiums have stunning heart-shaped leaves with splashes of red, hot pink or white. They’re stunning by themselves or as part of a mixed tropical container.
Roses are always a lovely addition to planters, and they're much hardier than you think. Read the plant tag to learn its mature size so you give it plenty of room to grow. Roses also work as thrillers.
Canna lilies are no shrinking violets! Their bold foliage, which may be green, burgundy or variegated, is topped by stunning flowers with a tropical flair. They’re considered annuals in cold climates, but the rhizomes (bulbs) can be lifted and saved to replant next spring. They're dramatic enough to work well by themselves in containers.
Arricca Elin SanSone has written about health and lifestyle topics for Prevention, Country Living, Woman's Day, and more. She’s passionate about gardening, baking, reading, and spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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