Last updated on August 24th, 2021
I wanted to give you an up-close look at the container plants that are featured in my latest YouTube video: “Let’s Tour the Garden: May, 2021” (click here to watch the episode). The plants — most of them annuals that will bloom and bloom until frost — are perfectly suited for a stylish career inside a pot, a hanging basket, or a window box. Pictures and cultural details for these spillers, fillers, and thrillers:
My “Tablescape” Plants
On the long patio table are three Pelargonium domesticum. Here in the United States, these show boats are commonly referred to as “Martha Washington” or “Regal” geraniums. Most varieties have richly-hued, ruffled flowers. Outdoors in spring, the plants bud and bloom as long as nighttime temperatures remain in the 50° – 60°F range (and as long as spent flowers are regularly removed). In my Hudson Valley climate, Martha will bud and bloom for two full months.
Hot weather isn’t the end of the Martha story. When blooming ceases, you can take stem cuttings and root them in pots of good potting mix. Keep these youngsters in a shady location outdoors. Bring the plants indoors in autumn, place them in a sunny east or south window, provide food and water as needed, and they will reward you with brilliant bouquets in February.
Mixed Plantings in Containers
To my mind, mixed plantings always look best if they include a spiller, a filler, and a thriller. Here’s how I outfitted the big urn on my patio:
The spiller: Lobelia. I’m a fan of cool colors, and Lobelia erinus is as good as a cold drink on a hot day. The tiny blue blossoms resemble a waterfall as they cascade over the sides of the urn. The plant prefers only semi-sun, but performs well in the direct morning sun on my east-facing patio.
The filler: Angelonia ‘Angelmist Spreading Bluebird.’ The purple-splashed white spires on this dwarf “summer snapdragon” look well above the cool blue Lobelia. As with the latter, the former is always in bloom.
The thriller: Dahlia, dahlings! This is a compact, or “border” type dahlia that grows to just 20 inches in height. The winey red blossoms compliment the lobelia and angelonia below.
My window boxes are actually black metal frames lined with coconut coir. Here’s what’s in them:
The filler: Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost.’ I love these clouds of airy white flowers!
The spillers: Vinca vine ‘Variegata’…
And this charming Bacopa ‘Snowstorm Rose’ — a tenacious trailer with tiny pink flowers.
For a reliable thriller, I selected purple-ish zonal geraniums (officially, they are pelargoniums). These stunning beauties require deadheading, but they bloom and bloom until the first hard frost. Related post: How I Prepare Geraniums for Winter Bloom.
Of course, a single plant in a hanging basket can be a thriller too!
For the two baskets suspended from brackets on my pergola, I selected Calibrachoa ‘Chameleon Frozen Ice.’ Chameleon is so-named because it changes color throughout the growing season, reacting to light levels, daylength, and other seasonal factors. Just now, the white flowers are brushed with blue, although they certainly look pink-tinged in the photo above! Calibrachoa requires no deadheading. It blooms non-stop until frost.
Food and Water
To keep all of these container plants happy, I water them daily during dry spells. And I give them a weekly feeding of Jack’s Classic Blossom Booster at the rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon of water.
In the comments field below, please talk about the container plants that are currently decorating your own patio, deck, or porch. I love hearing from you! xKevin
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Kristi says
Maybe pink bacopa?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Kristi – yes Bacopa — Thank you!!!
mlaiuppa says
I love beautiful ceramic pots of all shapes, sizes, glazed and unglazed. And I love mixing annuals in them. I just planted a huge glazed pot with gladiolus, nasturtium, petunia and pansies. Hopefully they will stagger blooming a bit, then trail when the glads come up and bloom.
I love pelargoniums. I found a lovely nursery that specializes in nothing but and has a lot in a lot of different categories. They arrive small but quickly grow and then bloom. geraniaceae.com
I highly recommend the rosebud pelargoniums, especially “Apple Blossom” and the Regal pelargoniums (Bliq is gorgeous). She has ivy, zonal and special ones you won’t find anywhere. She has a lot and you can pre-order those that are out of stock or expected in 2022 and she will ship when they are available. She is very trusting and will include an invoice which you return with a check for cost plus the shipping on the box they arrived in.
I also love violets, Johnny Jump-ups, marigolds, alyssum and lobelia. Those I plant from seed.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi mlaiuppa – I used to grow Apple Blossom and other dwarf and rosebud pelargoniums. Now, thanks to you, I can obtain these wonderful creatures once again. Merci!
Kathy Rainieri says
Kevin, I love the arrangement in your urn! I will copy it next year.
Always enjoy your posts.
Brenda says
I am thankful for these ideas as I’m placing container plants in front garden beds and on porch railings. Thank you
Jane says
I have a hot pink geranium, lobelia & white wave petunia’s in a large blue planter on my front steps.
Elaine in B.C. says
It is finally warm enough to plant out in our northern mountain region! Love the regals ….they bloom almost all year in my insulated lean to greenhouse, short days not withstanding. I keep my rosebud indoors all winter and by late January it starts giving me colour.
Martha says
Hi Kevin, I have blue planters filled with coral Sunpatients, blue lobelia and white bacopa. I placed them in the semi shade area of my back yard elevated on tree stumps amongst the hosta. It adds a pop of color to a totally green space!
Jenn says
Love these gorgeous flowers! On my hot and humid southern patio, I use geraniums and Wave petunias for color and add spearmint that I pull out of my herb garden to provide height and greenery or Thai basil as the thriller- even when it goes to flower, the leaves are still tasty for recipes. In my big containers, instead of paying for fancy sweet potato vine from the store as the spiller, I grow actual sweet potatoes. The vines and flowers are beautiful and then I get some sweet potatoes in the fall! When I thin my bearded irises, I plop a few spires into my big pots for some tall structure. I love mixing edibles with flowers and finding free plants in my own backyard!
Darlene Smith says
I love Wave Petunia’s. With a Geranium for height.
Lynnie says
I will remember spiller, filler and thriller for next time.
Lise Gray says
Thought I had sent a message, but it didn’t go through! Love your flowers Kevin, first, what direction does your pergola face? And are these all sun loving plants
Elaine says
Oh thank you Kevin – watching your tour was just the inspiration I needed to get out back and finish potting my flowers, but I needed a break. With 50 mph winds, it’s just no fun. I am trying several Calibrachoa’s (thank you!), mixed with snaps, verbenas, angel something or another, asylum and geraniums I started last winter. Then I’ll have pots of herbs, lettuce & chili peppers on the deck also. Living in a forest on a hilly lot similar to yours, and at 7500′ – all gardening is a challenge. We took down the greenhouse last spring. Planted some deciduous trees and bushes last Friday – So that area will be our ongoing project. Hope to build a gazebo up there later this summer. Thanks for the tour and recommendations ~ ♡
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Lise – These plants receive approximately 8 hours of full sun beneath the east-facing pergola. Although Lobelia prefers part shade, it is thriving here. The other plants are sun lovers.
Elaine Morin-Olly says
Hi Kevin – so glad you included Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost it’s one of my favorite plants, plus it’s quite happy on my deck with only 4 hrs of sun.