Good containers are three plants doing three jobs, chosen for how they will look in August rather than in May. Spring container combinationsaccent homes, offering better curb appeal. You can use these to improve the look of your home to passers-by, or to spruce up a backyard seating area. Andit’s easy to attain a professional lookwhen the basic elements of container design are a part of your process. Thrillers act as the focal point in arrangements, while spillers flow out of them, providing dimension and a feeling of abundance. Fillers take over empty spaces and unify the composition. If you don’t know where to start, use these three tenets to guide you. However, some of the most artistic container designs abandon these principles of design. While you can use the structure they provide to develop something magical, you certainly don’t have to. These seven arrangements will show you thatcareful selection and intentional plantingswork just as well. The Goth Garden Bundle The Goth Garden Bundle
All Kinds and Forms Mixed Cacti
All Kinds and Forms Mixed Cacti Seeds
Terracotta Goth Garden
It’s not fall yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’thave a goth garden! This design employs a ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black’™ sweet potato vine,along with purple oxalisas the darker end of the goth color palette. Variegated vinca vines spill out, and bright orange begonias top the planters, and grasses planted here and there thrill the eye.
With terracotta planters arranged in a tiered fashion bordering the sides of a patio,the ambience is maximized. This is among those fun and heat-tolerant spring container combinations that goths and less gothy gardeners will enjoy.
Pedestal Planter
If you have bare pedestals, spring is a great time to top them offwith planterssimply bursting with greenery and flowers. In this design, a wide copper planter balances atop a stone pillar. ‘Sweet Caroline’ sweet potato vines are once again employed as spillers, echoing the coloration of new spring leaves.
Calibrachoa in reds and pinks fills in the middle section, while fuchsia-colored scented geraniums and petunias sit at the top. This combination isperfect for any spring garden, and it can handle the heat in areas where summer comes before spring really ends.
Stone Thrillers and Spillers
A stunning red celosia takes the thriller role in this rectangular concrete planter, along with yet another sweet potato vine. To add to the drought-tolerance these plants provide – which is essential in a stone planter – silver ponyfootspillers and accentsof prairie grasses weather almost any hot summer.
This is one of thosesimple and easily executable spring container combinationsthat growers all over can emulate. Place the planter in an area that needs some greenery, or situate it among others to add to the display.
Whiskey Barrel Evergreen
If you’re unsure about garden design, how about a pairing of a dwarf evergreen and ageratum in an old whiskey barrel? This couple shows that good plantings don’t have to be as multifaceted as many of them are. Instead, choose two plants with different dimensions that play well together.
There are many dwarf conifers to choose from, with ‘Hinoki’ cypress offering a rounder look than a more conical lemon cypress.Surround the container with puffy pom pom blooms of ageratum, floss flower, or mist flowerto accent the roundness or pointed tips of your chosen conifer.
Spring Bulb Profusion
Early spring is the time forshowcasing bulbs, as seen in this large glazed container filled with tulips, daffodils, and violas. Spring container combinations like these are perfect in areas where it stays cold to cool for a long time at the start of the season.
Orange lily-flowered tulips pop among smatterings of round, ‘Outright Orange’ daffodils. Filling in the ground below are tiny, cold-tolerant ‘Johnny Jump Ups’. The yellow and purple of their petalsboth accent and offset the coloration of the spring bulbs.
Rustic Cacti Garden
Spring container combinations aren’t just for gardeners in temperate areas. Desert growers can enjoy arrangements of cacti and succulents year-round. Choose rustic containers, made of hand-formed clay or terracotta, to offset the light greens and bluish hues of the plants.
Almost any curated list of plants will do.Use barrel and columnar cactito anchor the design. Then fill in with trailingOthonnasucculents and add some attractive gravel to the soil surface. Voila! A desert paradise.
Sphagnum Hanging Basket
A little goes a long way, and this composition proves it. Here we have a simple pairing of ‘Baby Yellow’ nasturtium and double-petaled petunias. Placed in a hanging basket with a sphagnum moss liner, the greenery and wild blooms are balanced nicely. The round foliage of the nasturtium blends perfectly with the soft, round leaves of the petunia.
There are so many different variations on this design that would be more appropriate in other contexts. Try a flipped color combo with ‘Purple Emperor’ nasturtiumand ‘Shock Wave®’ yellow petunias. Ormix it up with whatever colors you choose. Note that complementary colors make the biggest impact, while analogous ones provide uniformity.
