One of my favorite planting projects each year is the filling of a myriad of containers that grace our backyard patio and the stoop by our front door. Within a couple of weeks the plants fill out and the containers provide a burst of sumptuous color throughout the summer and early fall. I make lists as I plot out the design of different containers, then I run to the nurseries around town and select just the right plants to fill the pots. Here's one that I planted and placed by our front door this year...
Today I'm going to tell you the "Thrill, Fill & Spill" method of designing a container. {Several years ago I did an "in depth" post about planting containers that discusses this method and several other variables when it comes to planting containers. Go here for that post.} "Thrill, Fill & Spill" is a phrase that best describes how to arrange plants in a container. The idea is to group together various plants that compliment one another and have three key components of design that create a beautiful container garden.
Thrill :: One eye-catching plant should be added to the container that has some height to it. This plant should make a bold statement and be a centerpiece. I generally use a spike in the center of the container for this purpose, but other great thriller plants could include banana plants, fountaingrass, caladium or something like lavender. I put this taller plant right in the center of the container, because I like the container to be able to be viewed from all angles...
Fill :: These plants literally fill in the pot, and I choose plants with big, full blossoms. My favorites are geranium, osteospermum, gerber daisies, coleus, marigolds and stock. Generally, I prefer a variety of colors and different types of plants. In the planter below I only used two different types of plants for the "Fillers", but each one was a different color. In a smaller container you will probably need three of these plants -- in a larger more...
Spill :: The final addition of creating a beautiful container garden is adding plants or flowers that will spill over the edges. These plants can be vines like the potato vine or an ivy, or they can be plants that spill or cascade over the edges like lobelia, million bells, vinca, petunia, asparagus fern or allysum. I tuck these inbetween the "Fill" plants close to the edge of the container so they can drape over the edge as they grow. Again a variety of colors and shapes of these "Spill" blossoms will add variety to the container.
The flowers in the container below were just planted so they haven't had the chance to mature, but you can still see the height of the spike {Thrill}, the geraniums and gerber daisies {Fill}, and the trailing million bells and lobelia {Spill}.
As these plants grow and mature the container will become even more beautiful...
Happy Bloomin' Tuesday!
