Well-designed container plantings can really define the look of your home and garden areas. Sun-loving annuals and heat tolerant perennials with their ranges of incredible colors are the focal point of most well-planted containers.
Our extensive selection of plants makes it easy to create plant combinations for every taste—from cool and classic to fresh and contemporary. It’s a pleasure to express your own creativity or you can choose from pre-designed containers that are filled with incredible combinations of color and texture — giving you months of enjoyment.
In late spring, our greenhouse fills with outstanding, hardy geraniums. Choose from budding flowerheads in hot and cool colors that range from American reds to hot pinks, deep salmon and corals, to pastel pinks and fresh whites. These bright and beautiful sun-lovers take the heat without wilting and keep on flowering. If you’re a gardener who forgets to water, once in awhile, geraniums can be the perfect starting point for your containers.
Design idea: For a twist on the classic geranium container: Pair iconic, American-red geraniums with trailing, white-flowering Bacopa and top off with ‘Diamond Frost’ Euphorbia whose nonstop-blooming flowers will fill the center with airy, white clouds. All of these plants tolerate drought and are heat tolerant. In addition, the Euphorbia is deer-resistant. This hardy mix will last all season. We also carry a large selection of accent plants for sunny conditions that trail or add vertical elements to your arrangements. Try plants with trailing tendrils such as plain or variegated vincas, ivies or the robust Sweet Potato vine (Ipomoea) with chartreuse (‘Margarita’), or almost-black (‘Blackie’) leaves. ‘Silver Falls’ (Dichondra) adds an elegant touch with its trailing, icy gray-green leaves. Or, the tiny, yellow-green leaves of Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia ‘Aurea’) never fail to brighten up a pot. Add height to a container with spiky foliage, such as striped, phormium grass; green or burgundy cordyline; perennial grasses or tropical topiaries such as Hibiscus, Lantana or sun-loving Hydrangeas.
Give this long-blooming annual, ‘Million Bells’ or ‘Super Bells (Calibrachoa) a try. This heat-resistant annual is loved for its cascading, small, petunia-like flowers will become a favorite in your containers. They are available in tasty colors such as ‘Dreamsicle’ or ‘Saffron,’ as well as many sweet pastels and bright colors. Hundreds of flowers bloom happily among compact foliage from early spring until light frost—and no dead-heading is needed.
Design idea: Center a red, pink or white-blooming tropical Mandevilla vine or a Lantana topiary (a Lantana plant pruned to look like a small tree) with a cloud of pink and yellow flowers in the middle of the pot. Plant a sea of hot pink and red ‘Million Bells’ under it. Guaranteed to get your attention as well as attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Nothing says summer like the colorful impact of petunias in containers or in the garden beds. Be bold and use single color or compliment and contrast with more than one shade. They thrive in sun and appreciate plenty of moisture. Petunias look beautiful paired with trailing Verbena—blooming in many shades of pink red, purple, coral and white as they spill over the container’s edge with abandon. Butterflies love them, too.
Stunning hanging baskets—brimming with annuals—are hard to resist in pot sizes ranging from 10- to 14-inches. Elegant geranium and ivy geranium baskets combine with trailing Vinca or English Ivy to create a traditionally, beautiful mixture. Sunny baskets of fresh petunias in dark and light purple are hard to resist. Or, try our favorite hanging baskets filled with five, seven and more types of annuals that all contribute to a masterpiece of shape, color and texture.
Pre-designed containers are available in every size for steps, decks, entryways or larger estates. They are sized to simply drop into most of your existing containers. Making the decision between fresh petunias, geraniums or mixed flowering annuals is the hard part! Container gardening can be satisfying for both beginners and experts. Each container should be treated like an experiment—a fun way to learn about plants and design. As most containers are easy to move, you can playfully combine them with others pots throughout the growing season. If some plants get tired-looking by mid-summer, just pop them out and refresh the pot with new plants and fresh ideas.
