Containers
Plants for Containers: A Knockout Pot Every Time
A great pot is a small garden. The best plants for containers, and the simple recipe that makes them sing.
A container is the easiest way to garden: instant color by a door, on a balcony, or on a patio, with no bed to dig and total control over the soil. The difference between a flat pot and a showstopper is not the plants so much as how you combine them, and there is a simple recipe that works every time.
Think thriller, filler, spiller: one tall plant for height, a few rounded ones to fill the middle, and trailing plants to spill over the edge. Choose long-blooming varieties, match them to the light, and a single pot will flower for months.
Thriller, filler, spiller
The classic recipe for a knockout container: one tall thriller for height in the middle or back, a few rounded fillers to bulk it out, and trailing spillers around the rim to soften the edge. Three roles, one great pot.
Thrillers: the upright centerpiece
Start with a tall, eye-catching plant for the middle (or the back, if the pot sits against a wall). It sets the height and the mood.
Angelonia angustifolia
Summer snapdragon, sending up neat purple, pink, or white spikes all season without a pause.
Salvia nemorosa 'Mainacht'
Upright violet spikes that give a pot instant height and keep the pollinators visiting.
Coleus scutellarioides
Grown for foliage in every color and pattern, the easiest way to add drama, and it loves shade too.
Canna
Big tropical leaves and bold flowers for a real statement in a large pot on a sunny terrace.
Pennisetum alopecuroides
Arching blades and fluffy plumes that add movement and a soft, airy centerpiece.
Fillers: the mounding middle
Next, a few rounded, free-flowering plants to bulk out the pot and carry most of the color.
Petunia
Generous trumpets in every color that bloom hard all summer and spill slightly over the rim.
Tagetes
Cheerful gold and orange pom-poms that flower endlessly and shrug off the heat.
Lantana camara
Clusters that shift color as they age, thriving on heat and bringing in the butterflies.
Spillers: trailing over the edge
Finally, a few trailing plants around the rim to soften the edges and tie the pot to whatever it sits on.
Calibrachoa
Million bells, a waterfall of tiny petunia-like flowers in every shade, nonstop until frost.
Chaenostoma cordatum
A delicate curtain of small white or blue flowers that softens the edge of any pot.
Ipomoea batatas
Trailing chartreuse or near-black leaves that pour over the side and set off the flowers.
Scaevola aemula
Fan flower, with fan-shaped blue or white blooms on tough, heat-proof trailing stems.
Lobularia 'Snow Princess'
A frothy, honey-scented skirt of white that spills and flowers all season long.
Pots for a shady spot
A shaded porch or doorway can have just as good a pot, with the right plants.
Fuchsia
Dangling, jewel-like flowers for shade, and a magnet for hummingbirds at the same time.
Heuchera
Mounds of ruffled foliage in caramel, plum, and silver that light up a shady arrangement.
Nephrolepis exaltata
Lush, arching fronds that bring cool, classic green to a shaded porch or doorway.
Keep pots thriving
- Use the biggest pot you can. Small pots dry out fast and cramp the roots.
- Fill it with a quality potting mix, not garden soil, which compacts in containers.
- Water regularly, often daily in summer heat, since pots dry out far faster than the ground.
- Feed every week or two, because frequent watering washes the nutrients out.
- Deadhead and trim through the season to keep everything flowering.
What is the best recipe for a container?
The thriller, filler, spiller formula: a tall focal plant, rounded fillers around it, and trailing plants to spill over the edge. It works in almost any pot.
What plants are best for pots in full sun?
Geraniums, petunias, calibrachoa, angelonia, marigolds, and lantana all thrive in sunny containers and flower for months.
How often should I water container plants?
Often. Pots dry out much faster than garden beds, so daily watering is normal in summer heat. Water whenever the top inch of soil feels dry.
Design a garden with these plants
Open BloomsEye Studio with this guide's plants ready to drop onto a plan, then watch the whole bed bloom across the year.