What I love most about container gardening is how easy it is to create stunning displays, even for gardening novices. By combining different colors and textures, there are thousands of different lovely combinations you can create, even with limited space and a tight budget. When selecting flowers for your containers, there are three plant categories you should try to incorporate into each container.
Category 1: Fillers
These are plants or flowers that will fill each container with plenty of yummy color. These tend to be mounding in nature, and as they grow, they will become the backbone or base of your container’s overall look.
Some of my favorite fillers: Begonias (part sun), Impatiens (part sun), Petunias (full sun), Pentas (full sun)
Category 2: Spillers
These are plants or flowers that will trail or spill over the side of the container as it grows, adding dimension and texture to the display.
Some of my favorite spillers: Sweet Potato Vine (full sun), Calibrachoa (full sun), Verbena (full sun), Dichondra (part sun)
Category 3: Thrillers
These are plants or flowers that demand to be noticed! Aim for one plant like this one in each container to be the showy attention-grabber of the display.
Some of my favorite thrillers: Spike Dracaena (part to full sun), Geranium (full sun)
With the categories listed above in mind, I put together a number of different containers for our front porch. This year, I decided to tackle my summer containers on a day when I had two school events to attend, contractors replacing the gutters on our home, and a baseball game to prepare snacks for. (I know: I am a glutton for punishment.) On days like these, I would usually put style on the backburner and resort to wearing my typical ratty outdoor work clothes–an old sorority t-shirt and a ratty pair of shorts–but this year, I added a new outdoor ensemble from Duluth Trading Company to my closet specifically for days like these. It was so nice have comfortable, functional outdoor work clothes that could bridge the work-to-play gap so beautifully. My new skort, tank and wide-brimmed hat (a life-saver on hot summer days!) will undoubtedly be in heavy wardrobe rotation all summer long as I work and play to my heart’s content!
In my first container, which receives a healthy amount of sun, I planted bright red petunias (filler), cheerful yellow calibrachoa and vibrant green sweet potato vine (spillers), and spike dracaena (thriller).
My second container, which lives under the porch, features plants more tolerant to shade: red begonias (filler), soft green dichondra (spiller), and spike dracaena (thriller).
You’ll notice that although each of my containers incorporates different types of flowers, there is a red/yellow theme throughout. When planting multiple containers to be displayed in the same space, stick with a consistent color scheme throughout for maximum impact.
I hope today’s tips have inspired you to see how easy it is to create stunning containers for your home’s outdoor spaces. Planting containers really is a perfect way to get little ones involved in gardening!
Want to win a $50 gift card to purchase your own stylish gardening duds from Duluth Trading Company? Simply leave a comment here telling me your favorite outdoor summer activity.
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Giveaway open only to US residents 18 years of age and older. Giveaway will close at 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 12. Winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email. He or she will have 24 hours to respond before an alternate winner is selected.
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Having grown up in a home brimming with sewing notions and paintbrushes, Amy has a deep love for all things creative. On any given day, you’ll find her knee-deep in her latest creative endeavor, with projects ranging from sewing and crafts to home decor and kid-friendly ideas. Amy believes that everyone, regardless of skill level or experience, possesses the ability to create something beautiful, and Positively Splendid was born of her passion for helping others harness their innate creative potential.
My favorite outdoor activity……cleaning dirt out from under my fingernails!. Just kidding. But that is what happens after I spend time putzing around in my garden. I can’t get enough of coaxing my vegetables and flowers to grow and produce!!
I love taking my daughter for a run on a warm breezy morning.
My favorite outdoor summer activity is grilling out on the back patio and sitting around relaxing with a cold beverage!
Gardening (and admiring it once it’s done)!
We love gardening–its our favorite summer activity! We’ve already eaten a few strawberries from our garden. Thanks for the giveaway!
Our favorite activity is camping. Always looking for bright, colorful ways to brighten up our space!! Thanks for the plant ideas!!
My favorite activity is working as a nurse at summer camp. It is great to see kids being kids without all the technology. Thanks for the chance!
Gardening is tops on the list for me, along with observation, I love walking around my neighborhood with my Granddaughters we call it exploring, we find lovely flowers, wildlife and rocks (my CiCi calls all the rocks her fossils she has quite a collection and plans to be a geologist). We also use this time to keep the public areas clean, we take bags along to collect any trash and or recycling found along the way, it’s a great way to teach the little ones about responsibility, community and the environment and just enjoy the outdoors. I think I will do purple, orange and bright green plants in my containers this year, still working on some unique containers to put them in re- or up-cycled containers. Love your outfit, would be great for exploring!!
I just love to be outside in the summer weather. It can be gardening, sitting by the pool or watching grandkids sports!!
We’re in prep the deck mode right now. Just finished power washing it and furniture. Gonna’ start my favorite….planting the containers!
I am a wave bobber – – by far my favorite thing to do in the summer!
I love to eat outside and BBQ. Coffee in the morning out on the deck is also wonderful! Listening to the birds and taking it all in!!
I love having a vegetable garden. I can & freeze what I reap. It’s the best gift you can give your family & friends & you know what is in it.
Gardening–just being outside in the sun makes summer the best!!
My favorite summer thing to do is grill at the park. We play music, sneak in some spiked lemonade, and play chess!
Favorite summertime activity going to my grandsons base ball games and going to the beach! Love your pots they are beautiful…
Hiking!
I love cooking/grilling and eating outside! Especially on a nice evening, not too hot, nice breeze, and no bugs!
Kara
Gardening.
There are so many favorite summer activities but camping & fishing with the kids would have to be #1.
We love relaxing in the backyard – grilling – and visiting!
Love Duluth! I like to putter in my deck garden when I get home from work (everything in pots – less to weed!). Thanks for the planting information, and the giveaway!
I love playing outside with the kids and doggies. They have so much fun! We bought our house last year and we’re hoping to put in a fire pit for the summer!
Favorite summer activity: kids and grandkids cooking and eating outside, playing in and out of the pool, just spending relaxing and happy time together. Thanks for the giveaway.
My favorite outdoor summer activity is picnicing at the park
Hiking!
I love everything about summer except when in gets above 90! We live in Iowa but we still grill outside 3-4 days a week even in blizzards. We have a large garden and we put up everything we can. We raise our own meat and have several of every kind of fruit trees that will grow in Iowa. I have some lovely flowers too. We also raise horses and have a few pigs, a cow, geese, ducks and chickens. Poor Lilly the goat died of old age last fall. We bale lots of hay too so as you can see summer is busy. Love seeing all the new babies born and when a thunderstorm rolls through and I can sit on my covered patio and watch it. MY MOST FAVORITE thing off all is morrel mushrooms although that is more of a spring time thing. Happy summer everyone!
Our favorite summer activity is going to the zoo! Followed, by swimming and picnics at the park!
My favorite activity is using the sprinkler with my kids.
My favorite summer outdoor activity is floating in the pool. Dr. Love and I promised our “tweens” that we’d get a pool when we moved them away from friends & activities at the beginning of their middle school years. Now that they’re grown, we find ourselves enjoying the pool!
I adore gardening and would say it’s my favorite summer activity.
My favorite summer activity is to travel to visit family. Since we live in Florida, we start our “summer” gardening at the of January. We are coming to the end of our growing season (even some of our farmer’s markets close at the end of May – Just as yours are likely opening!)
My favorite outdoor activity is spending time at the lake with my family – barbeques, swimming for the kids and our dog makes for a great day and tired little ones at the end of the day! 🙂
Digging in my garden….can’t wait to eat the veggies
My favorite thing to so in the sun is drink ice tea and be with a good friend! , but really i love to garden!!
thanks for an opportunity to WIN!
Have a happy weekend!
Making s’mores around a campfire with the ones you love!
My favorite summer activity is sitting on the porch with a nice breeze, reading a great book!
One of my favorite summer activities is taking the dogs for long walks!
Hiking!
i love gardening!
I love fishing in the summer! I am also planning on helping my in-laws with their new garden this summer. Should be a good one!
I like going to the beach!
I love being outside! Especially playing and lounging at a beach with the grandkids, but gardening is right up there, too!
Gardening is definitely my favorite outdoor activity.
Setting in the shade, dreaming that I have a backyard!
Favorite outdoor activity: Hard to choose between biking and gardening!
Love to go camping & water skiing!
I love playing at the park with our daughters and take walks as a family + our dogs too!!
Love my outdoor flowers
I need to do this. We move alot do no garden but a container garden would be great. I live watching the kids play in their baby pool.
Gardening!
Watching my kids play baseball (and then gardening…)
Gardening, having picnics and swimming! I love summer!
We like bike riding down the trails together when its nice outside
I LOVE swimming and the beach!
I love to garden in the summer– we are just barely getting started here with a freeze warning for tonight but better warmer days are ahead. There is hope!
I love taking walks with my boys!
I love playing horseshoes in the backyard!
I love to take the kids out hiking and surfing
My favorite outdoor pastime is boating with my family!
My favorite would be getting together with some friends and camping with maybe some hiking involved. I also love gardening too!
My favorite would be getting together with some friends and camping with maybe some hiking involved. I also love gardening too!
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My favorite summer activity is spending our days at the beach
My favorite summer activity is working in my garden.