by Katherine Elzer-Peters

Created on: January 13, 2008

Combine color and texture among three types of plants to pot your perfect container garden. Thrillers, spillers and fillers planted in harmony compose a perfect container garden.

Color
Container gardens should POP, not just hang out on the corner of your patio. Choose colors that contrast to the background behind containers. Blues, yellows and whites look great against a brick wall or the edge of a lawn. Purples, oranges and chartreuse shine next to a swimming pool. Choose one one or three colors for most impact. Odd numbers are pleasing to the eye, and more than three colors in a container will appear busy.

Texture
A container garden is a miniature garden. Texture lends interest to gardens large and small. Foliage provides a wide variety of textures. Cut-leaf ferns lend a different feel than a linear leafed grass. Asparagus fern gives an airy feel to a container garden.

Thrillers

Thrillers are the fireworks in your container garden. They are the tallest, most noticeable or unusual plants in the pot. Cleome (spider flower), Abutilon (flowering maple), Guara (whirling butterflies), variegated grasses, ornamental peppers, chartreuse coleus and others make good "thrillers." Plants that one would not expect to see in a container, like datura (angel's trumpet) and ornamental bananas thrill. Rare plants like Mandevilla 'Red Riding Hood,' are also highlighted best in containers.

Spillers

Spillers are plants that "spill" over the edge of the pot. Even if you are using a spectacular container, you do not want all of the plant material to only go up. Integrate green plants such as ivy, vinca, and licorice plant, as well as the unusual "raspberry carpet" groundcover as spillers. Bacopa (bridal veil), trailing verbena, wave petunias, and ornamental sweet potato vine add color as spillers.

Fillers

Fillers unify your container. Fillers are discreet plants that serve to tie your container together. They should have colors in the same tones and hues as your thrillers, or the same texture as your spillers. Greens such as ferns and grasses also serve as good fillers, providing a backdrop for your thrillers to shine.

Combine Thrillers, Spillers and Fillers in a variety of colors and textures and you will have a spectacular container garden.

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