In late spring and early summer, plants are filling in the landscape at a rapid pace, but blooms can be lacking as the foliage is most prominent. Planters and container gardens can add vitality to your garden or yard. An attractive flower garden container can contain almost any combination of plants. It often blends delicate and bold blooms with foliage to create color and effect. Container planting is a great way to show off your artistic style and mix different heights and textures. You can find amazing flower garden containers ideas to create color and effect, and have eye-catching, perennially blooming planters all summer.
Selecting Flowers For Your Container Garden
The flower selection is crucial for the color and effect of a flower garden container. Look for plants with similar light requirements, different growth habits, heights, and textural variations as you browse the garden center.
Some of our favorite container flower varieties are:
- Geranium Thriller
- Creeping Zinnia
- Verbena
- Salvia
- Bacopa
- Creeping Charlie
- Lantana
- Coleus
- Lobelia
- Creeping Jenny
- Petunias
- Ornamental grasses and spikes
- Ivy
Preparing your container for planting
- Choose a pot or planter. You can mix and match different containers to make your own unique designs. You can use old rain barrels and galvanized metal pots as well as wooden or plastic planters and urns. You can make your plants more productive by putting more soil in your planters.
- To ensure adequate drainage, make sure there are enough holes in the container’s bottom. Use a drill to make holes if there are none.
- Use a premium potting mixture to fill your container.
- Laying your plants out will help you determine the best plant combinations and their placement. Continue reading for information on geranium thrillers, fillers and spillers.
- Make sure you have enough space for your plants.
- Water the area where each plant is to be transplanted.
- Place the roots of the plant in the desired places.
- Use potting soil to fill in the gaps and then press them in.
- To give your plants a great start, add some compost to the soil.
- You should water the whole container of new plants well. Transplants may experience some shock initially so it is a good idea to water them again after a while.
Transitioning Violas
High heat is not a good environment for vicias. They thrive in the spring and autumn. You can also transplant violas from containers to your garden.
- You can carefully remove viola plants using a garden shovel, keeping their roots intact.
- For the summer, transplant violas to a more shaded and protected area of the garden.
- Mulch your garden to protect violas’ root systems and keep them cool.
- Keep the transplanted violets hydrated and remove any dead flowers. If they grow too long, you can trim them.
- They should be returned to their containers in the fall, where they will thrive, and then brought back in the spring.
Designing Your Container Garden Using A Thriller, Filler, & Spiller
When you’re choosing and placing your flowers in flower garden containers, consider their growth habits and bloom rate. This will affect the overall color and effect. You should include a mixture of thrillers, fillers, or spillers. You should keep in mind that plants can fit into more than one category.
Thriller Container Garden Flowers
A thriller plant is one that adds height to a container. This plant draws the most attention towards the flower garden container. These plants will be the frame of your flower garden container.
These are some ideas for thrillers:
- Geranium thriller
- Salvia thriller
- Ornamental grass
- Coleus
Filler Container Garden Flowers
Filler plants are mid-sized plants that fill in a space. They are usually complementary or antagonistic to the thriller’s color in the container.
These are some ideas for fillers:
- Petunias
- Begonias
- Lantana
- Verbena
- Lobelia
- Impatiens
- Geranium (thriller, filler)
Spiller Container Garden Flowers
Spiller plants have a trailing growth habit which allows them to grow out of the sides and overflow from the flower garden container.
Here are some ideas for spillers:
- Wave Petunias
- Creeping Charlie
- Creeping Jenny
- Vinca vine
- English Ivy
Flower Container Planting: Color and Effect
The way you plant flowers in your container garden can make a big difference to its beauty and appeal. These are the top tips to bring out the best from your planter designs.
- Plant taller thriller plants towards the back or center of your planter depending on the location of the container. A geranium thriller flower, for example, makes a bold statement due to its height and rich color.
- Place spillers near the edge of your flower garden container to allow them to crawl over it.
- Fill in any empty spaces by using filler selections. You can also vary the colors of your blooms to create contrast and intrigue.
Considerations for Container Planting Spacing
Container planting allows you to break away from the established spacing rules. For best color and effect, plant your plants densely in flower-garden containers. Allow plants to grow together by leaving a few inches between them. Even small transplants can fill the container. You may find that your flower garden container is getting too full. You can always take out a few plants and plant them elsewhere later.
