Tag: large outdoor planters

Pro Flower Container Ideas and Tips:

I hope these flower container ideas and tips spark your imagination. Let’s start by covering some basics. Flowers typically fall into two categories; annuals and perennials. Large outdoor planters are the perfect way to grow these living bouquets! Many are easy to grow from seed, meaning that you can experiment with a variety of different types of flowers very economically, and even save your own seed. Annuals are often purchased as pre-planted flowering pots. Countless varieties are available at hardware stores, supermarkets, and garden centers. These plants can add instant color to a container garden, and are an excellent way to quickly replace an under-performing plant in an otherwise stunning display. However, because they have usually begun flowering well before we buy them, they do not bloom for as long as plants grown from seed nor are they as hardy.

In order to extend the life of your flower displays, keep the spent flowers trimmed off. This is called “deadheading.” Removing the flowers before they can set seed encourages the plant to produce even more flowers. Flowers make excellent displays on their own, or can be combined with herbs and vegetables for a stunning and edible display! Edible flowers, like nasturtiums and pansies, make a fantastic addition to summer salads. Because annuals live only one season, you can choose a new look for your container each year. When you design your annual container, keep in mind these flower container ideas and tips:

• Consider foliage plants with interesting shapes, colors, or textures as the “background” of your composition.
• Keep the color wheel in mind: If you want the colors to pop, choose colors from opposite sides of the wheel—like purple and yellow. If you want a more soothing look, choose analogous colors—those that are next to each other—like shades of pink and pastel oranges.
• Shapes of flowers add interest to the arrangement. Use a variety for best results.
• If plants get leggy or overgrow the container, trim them back. When they are truly spent, did them up gently and replace them.
• Plant more flowers than you would normally plant in a garden. You want to keep the bloom dramatic.

Good choices for containers in sunny spots are marigolds, geraniums, sunflowers and petunias. In part-shade, alyssum, lobelia, nemesia and nicotiana all bloom well. In very shady areas, try impatiens, pansies and violas. Perennial foliage plants like yucca and lamb’s ear, or attractive herbs like lavender, mint and thyme, make excellent foliage plants as the “background” to a composition.

Popular Flower Choices

Below is a list of 25 popular choices suitable for container gardening:

Share Your Flower Container Ideas

I hope this article sparked some flower container ideas and I would love nothing more than for you to share them with us. Nothing sparks creativity like inspiring images of beautiful arrangements. Please use the form below to share your creations with the rest of our community. Thank you for stopping by.