Horticulture/Container Gardening/Flowers

Flowers

Container gardening is a super-easy way to dress up your front porch or patio, add a splash of color to shady areas, or cope with poor soil in your yard. "Many plants thrive in containers," says Barbara Wise, author of Container Gardening for All Seasons. "The most important thing is good drainage. Make sure there's a hole in the bottom of your pot so plants don't drown. Also, read the tag or talk to the nursery to learn which plants do well in your specific conditions, such as full sun or shade."

Since your outdoor potted plants will need more water than their in-ground counterparts, be smart about location. For remote spots, choose drought-tolerant plants, such as succulents. If you’ve got some thirstier plants in the mix, place them nearest to a water source. Check the soil moisture of your containers daily for the first week after planting to determine how often to irrigate. When it comes to design, we all know the container gardening adage: Choose a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. But here are a few more guiding ideas to keep in mind.

• Pick a palette that works with the house colors and stick to it in all your containers.
• Mix different textures, shapes, and colors to heighten visual interest. For example, choose a wide variety of flower and leaf shapes—some round, some trumpet-shaped, some scalloped.
• Group pots of various shapes, sizes, and complementary styles too.
• It’s okay to have only one plant per container but think in opposites: Put the spotlight on a plant's distinctive leaves by choosing a simple pot. Want to show off a cool container? Pair it with a plainer species.

Container Plants

• Geranium

A classic for front porch containers, these cheerful plants will flower spring through summer with deadheading (pinching off spent blooms) and fertilizer. Though they like full sun, they do appreciate some afternoon shade in intense heat. Learn how to winterize potted geraniums.

Exposure: Sun

• Iris

Yes, you can grow irises in containers, says Melissa Lallo Johnson, a Midwest-based master gardener who grows 23 varieties on her extensive property, which she shares on Instagram at @fancyflowerfarmer. “The thing I love most about irises is that after they are done putting on their show, their stunning green leaves with a bluish tint stay beautiful the rest of the season and much into the beginning of winter," she says. "When they start to brown at the tips, I cut the brown off and cut them to a point. That usually stops the browning and keeps them looking picture perfect.”

Exposure: Sun

• Hibiscus

This tropical bloomer makes a striking accent in a grouping of containers, especially when you have one with a braided trunk. It's also long-lived as long as you protect it from the cold. "I keep mine indoors over the winter,” says Johnson. "The once $5 plant is now a thick trunk braided beauty at nearly seven years old.

Exposure: Sun

• Caladium

The heart-shaped foliage of this tropical plant will take centerstage in a container. Pair it with impatiens in a shady spot, but take note: Keep caladium away from pets, especially those who like to chew on plants. Caladiums contain insoluble calcium oxalates, which are toxic if consumed.

• Sweet Potato Vine

With foliage ranging from bright lime green to dark purple depending on the variety, trailing sweet potato vines can add a welcome color contrast to your container. "One of my favorite spillers," says Johnson. "Big color, big leaves, big impact."

Exposure: Part Sun to Sun Exposure: Shade

• Impatiens

"This classic will never grow old," says Johnson. "I use these sometimes as the fill and the spill."

Exposure: Shade

• Supertunia

"Up to 4 feet of spill in containers—sold!" says Johnson. You'll also love that this low-maintenance petunia hybrid doesn't need require deadheading for repeat blooms.

Exposure: Part Sun to Sun

• Basil

When you plant basil in your container garden, you'll always have fresh leaves on hand for culinary endeavors—and it'll help keep mosquitoes away. Johnson uses basil as a filler plant in her containers and lets them go to flower. "The flowers are so beautiful and fragrant," she says. "They are also excellent in floral arrangements."

Exposure: Sun

Varieties to try: Sweet Basil, Lemon Basil, and (for added color) Purple Basil

• Lantana

Even beginners will enjoy success with this spiller in a container or hanging basket. Both heat and drought tolerant, this low-maintenance perennial is a butterfly magnet that blooms late spring through frost. “I love the intricate petal structure, the colors, and the smell,” says Johnson.

Two caveats to know: If ingested, lantana is toxic to animals, so take care around pets, horses, and livestock. Also, opt for sterile varieties; otherwise, lantana can be invasive in warm climates.

Exposure: Sun

Varieties to try: Bloomify Rose, Bloomify Red, and Luscious Royale Red Zone (all certified sterile)

• Sweet Alyssum

"The delicate and airy look of sweet alyssum is so special as it falls over the container rim," says Johnson. "I love to tuck this into my rock wall also." White is the most common color, but purple- and pink-blooming varieties are also available.

Exposure: Sun (in hot climates, plant in part shade)

• Euphorbia

This somewhat lesser-known plant looks frilly but it's tough as nails in a variety of conditions including heat and drought. Its wispy leaves and profuse airy white flowers offer a delicate baby's breath-like effect to mixed pots, says Glenn Kopp, horticulture information manager at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.

Exposure: Part sun to sun

Varieties to try: Diamond Frost (pictured) or Glitz

• Begonias

Begonias are versatile, hardy, and showy with a variety of leaf shapes and flower colors ranging from white to brilliant orange. "Many varieties do very well in containers," says Kopp. "Just don't let them get too wet." Plant them on their own in a hanging basket or in a mixed container. For extra showy blooms, go for a double begonia variety, such as the aptly named Roseform.

Exposure: Part sun

Varieties to try: Dragon Wing, Santa Cruz, or Roseform

• Ornamental Pepper

These bushy little plants are fun additions to containers with their season-long color, texture and showy fruit, says Kopp. The tiny fruits typically mature from black to red. Though technically edible, most varieties of ornamental peppers are ultra-hot—so keep them out of the reach of kids and pets!

Exposure: Sun

Varieties to try: Purple Flash or Black Pearl

• Angelonia

Delicate but heat-tolerant angelonia, also called summer snapdragon, doesn't need to be deadheaded to keep blooming all season. They come in pinks, mauves, deep purple, purple-blues, white, and more. Mix them with trailing herbs for an attractive combination planter, suggests Kopp.

Exposure: Sun

Varieties to try: Angelface Wedgewood Blue or Archangel Purple

• Coral Bells

This perennial, also called heuchera, has frothy little flowers that arch over mounded foliage in early summer. Its leaves come in a rainbow of shades from peach to deepest burgundy. "These are one of my favorites that I've used in hundreds of planters. They tend to do better in pots in some places, especially if you have a lot of hungry creatures such as voles in your yard," says Barbara Wise, author of Container Gardening for All Seasons.

Exposure: Part sun

Varieties to try: Harvest Burgundy or Dolce Cinnamon Curls (pictured)

• Coleus

In the last few years, coleus has had an explosion of new colors. It's drought tolerant and includes trailing, mounded, and upright varieties in too many colors to count. "A bonus is that their delicate flowers are a huge pollinator magnet for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds," says Wise.

Exposure: Shade to sun (read the plant label for each variety)

Varieties to try: Trusty Rusty or Redhead

• Nemesia

Perky little flowers last all season on upright stems in tons of bright colors including purple, pink, cranberry, bright yellow, pale yellow, orange, and white. The plant may flower in winter in milder climates, but it's generally considered an annual. Use as a vertical accent as part of a mixed container.

Exposure: Part sun to sun

Varieties to try: Juicy Fruits Kumquat or Dazzle-Me Lilac

• Dwarf Hydrangea

Surprise! Flowering shrubs can be planted in containers, too, especially dwarf varieties that don't get more than two or three feet tall. An explosion of new hydrangea varieties in the past decade means you're certain to find one you love. Most hydrangeas bloom white or whitish-pink, then turn to shades of pink, purple, lime green, or a combination of shades. Cut blooms dry beautifully for an indoor display all winter long.

Exposure: Shade to sun (read the plant label for each variety)

Varieties to try: Little Quick Fire (pictured) or Bobo

• Shrub Rose

Roses are lovely in landscape planting, but many shrub varieties work well in pots, too, says Wise. Newer varieties also are more disease resistant than old-school roses so they generally don't need to be sprayed and coddled. Set these out in pretty decorative pots as elegant focal points on your deck or patio.

Exposure: Sun

Varieties to try: Oso Easy or At Last

• Pansies and Violas

These darlings of spring and fall gardens come in a stunning array of single and multi-color blooms. Some types last well past the first frost and even rebound in the spring. Plant them en masse in one color for impact, or mix with a variety of later-blooming plants for season-long interest.

Exposure: Part sun to sun

Varieties to try: Cool Wave or Anytime