Recipes for Success
Designing great containers, hanging baskets and combination planters is easier than it seems. Here are five tips to help you create containers that will get noticed.
- Combine flowering plants with foliage or component plants in a ratio of 3 to 4 flowering plants to one component plant.
- Choose contrast or have harmony by the colors you select. The easiest high impact color combination is the combination of red, yellow, and blue.
- Maintain proportion. The basic guideline is for the plant material to be twice as tall as the visible part of the container.
- Don't forget texture. Combine different flower and foliage textures that compliment each other.
- Use your imagination and have fun. Most times there are really no bad combinations. So, mix your left-over annuals together and enjoy the results of a "living hand-tied bouquet."
If you are still unsure of yourself, try these sure-fire blueprints for some combination planters that will get attention.
| Contrasting Colors | Four 'Babylon' or 'Tapien™' lilac verbena and one Helichrysum 'White Licorice' in a 12-14 inch pot. Can also use 'Purple Wave' petunia in place of verbena. |
| Contrasting Colors | Two 'Babylon' or 'Tapien™' blue verbena and two Bidens 'Goldmarie.' |
| Striking Colors | One Sweet Potato 'Terrace Lime' surround by three 'Purple Wave' petunias in a 12-14 inch pot. |
| Cool Color Combo | Two Brachycome 'New Amethyst,' two 'Babylon' or 'Tapien™' verbena and one 'Glechoma Variegata' in a 12-14 inch pot or basket. |
| Warm Color Combo | One 'Babylon' red verbena, one Helichrysum 'Golden Beauty,' One Asteriscus 'Compact Gold Coin,' one Variegated Plectranthus in a 12-14 inch pot or basket. |
| Shade Combo | Two Evolvulus 'Hawaiian Blue Eyes' and two Lamium 'White Nancy' in a 10 inch pot. |
| Shade Combo | One Lysimachia 'Outback Sunset,' one Lysimachia 'Goldilocks,' one Lysimachia 'Golden Globes,' and two Evolvulus 'Hawaiian Blue Eyes' in a 12-14 inch pot or basket. |
