Mix and Match Container Plantings

Growing plants in containers opens up a whole world of options for adding color to your deck, patio, balcony or even in your garden. I’ll encourage you here to go beyond planting a single flower per pot or only annuals in your containers. Why not mix annuals with perennials, vegetables and herbs to make your containers even more diverse, stunning and practical?

The Basics: Choosing a Container

It all starts with the pot. The larger you use, the more options for planting you’ll have, but big containers can be heavy to move. I like to use UV stabilized polyurethane containers because they are lightweight, resist cracking and fading in our Northeast U.S. weather, and can last for several years.

If your containers are heavy and you need options to make them more portable, consider investing in caddies with casters to set them on. You might even find some containers that are already on wheels.

To make watering easier and less of a burden in the summer, use AquaPots^® Lite self-watering containers or add an AquaPots^® Insert to your own containers. Their water storage reservoir makes it so you only need to refill about once a week instead of daily watering like your regular containers.

Fill them with lightweight Proven Winners potting soil and mix in some continuous release plant food to keep your plants growing strong and healthy all season. Most annuals will also grow and bloom better if you feed them every week with water soluble plant food.

Mixing and Matching Plants in Containers

Now the fun begins! It’s time to mix and match plants for your containers and try out different color combinations. Make sure you select plants with the same light and water needs first, then choose plants with similar or complementary growth habits.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Here’s a beautiful container for shade that mixes attractive foliage and flower colors using annuals. Foliage plants Space Age^® Black Hole^™, Europa^™ and Triton^™ Rex begonias are mixed with ColorBlaze^® Lime Time^® coleus, then paired with shade-loving Summer Wave^® Trailing Large Amethyst and Large Violet wishbone flowers. Other plants that would work well here too are Endless^™ Illumination bush violet (Browallia) and Sweet Caroline Sweetheart sweet potato vines.

For shade perennial containers, you can't beat coral bells (Heuchera). Try the Dolce^® series of smaller-statured varieties including Dolce^® 'Glazed and Infused', ‘Wildberry’, and 'Toffee Tart'. The great thing about coral bells is even when they aren't in flower, their colorful leaves still put on a show. 

If you have more sun and want to plant perennials in your containers, try growing a few varieties of one type of long-blooming, sun-loving perennial together. I’m a fan of the Color Coded^® coneflowers (Echinacea) for this purpose. An attractive combination would be Color Coded^® ‘One in a Melon’, ‘Frankly Scarlet’ and ‘The Price is White’.

Even perennials you think might grow too large for containers can be tried if you choose carefully. Look for dwarf versions like ‘Leading Lady Orchid’ bee balm (Monarda) or Amazing Daisies^® ‘Banana Cream II’ shasta daisy (Leucanthemum) to plant in containers.

If you want to save your perennials in containers over the winter to grow again next year, you’ll need to take some special precautions. Read all about overwintering perennials in pots.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, try mixing and matching annuals and perennials together in pots. This shade container blends annuals Double Delight^® Appleblossom II tuberous begonias and Diamond Snow^® euphorbia with perennials Shadowland^® ‘Love Story’ hosta and ‘Spot On’ lungwort (Pulmonaria).

Sometimes the simpler, the better. The Sunglasses recipe combines three similar flowers plus a thriller in large pot for full sun. Cascading Superbells^® calibrachoa and Supertunia^® petunias work well together in containers with Toucan^® cannas added for height. 

Lastly, remember that you’re not limited to growing flowers in your containers. Vegetables and herbs can also make striking container combinations with the bonus of being edible. Try a pot planted with miniature eggplant or dwarf tomatoes with herbs like Amazel Basil^®, oregano and rosemary. Bright Lights Swiss chard, tricolor sage and nasturtiums also work great in containers. The options are only limited by your imagination and willingness to experiment.

Explore more container recipe ideas.