There are as many ways to plant a container as there are gardeners, so in this gallery we’d like to present a selection of creative and successful designs to spark your imagination. Use these as a jumping-off point to experiment with your own plant combinations or solo featurings, and enjoy one of the great seasonal pleasures of gardening!
A large bowl of sun-lovers, designed by Heather Grimes, includes Euphorbia myrsinites, Sedum ‘Angelina’, and Lotus maculatus.
Mosses, stones, miniature Hostas and dwarf Sweet Flag are unconventional choices for an antique urn in a shady setting. Designed by Robert Clyde Anderson.
Garden designer Leslie Reed assembled this lovely pot for our shade house: Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass), Begonia ‘Bonfire’, and Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’.
This clever planting of ordinary Red Cabbage in an antique copper pot has the effect of oversized succulents. Garden of Mark McDonald.
Early spring combination of yellow Violas and prunings from a Yellow-twig Dogwood, at Chanticleer in Wayne, PA.
Another idea for spring: combine colorful vegetables, Heucheras, Violas, grasses and twigs for a lively grouping, as shown here at Longwood Gardens.
Hardy Sedums in variety make an arrangement that’s as pretty as flowers, and much longer lasting. Design by James Hess.
A large, low ironstone pot complements this grouping of dwarf conifers, underplanted with a mini-groundcover of creeping sedums. Designed by Chris Locashio.