It's Planting Season
It’s July, which means that Summer has really started in earnest this time of year. For many gardeners, summertime means it’s time to enjoy the colors and growth around their home and garden. But even if you haven’t gotten around to planting that perfect garden in your planters, there’s still time! Making your home and garden an oasis of flowers and/or greenery is only a few steps away with a tall outdoor planter, so let’s take a quick look at some of the many options in front of you.
Fillers, Thrillers, Spillers
Before we get started, we’ll break plants for your planter into three different categories, thrillers, fillers, and spillers. Gardeners might choose to use one of these types of plants or a combination of all three to make the planter look best in its chosen location, but what are each of these groups of plants? The thriller seems like an obvious category for plants, this plant is your centerpiece and oftentimes your wow factor, it stands out from the other plants sometimes for its size and other times for its vibrant colors, or other unique and eye-catching characteristics. The filler is the next component to the planter, this plant is the hardworking and less splashy friend of the thriller. In most cases the filler is a smaller ground covering plant that sets the stage for its companions, but don’t sleep on these little plant friends, as they create the canvas on which everything else can shine. Finally the spiller does exactly what its name suggests, usually showing up in a planter on the edges and spilling out of and down the planter to add volume and bring the display out of the confines of the planter itself.
Remember that as you prepare to set up your planter, that most planters don’t contain all three of these elements. Oftentimes one is more than enough, especially if your planting space is not the largest, as it sometimes is with taller planters. What you should make sure to get right is the planter itself, which serves as the most important building block, while you might be able to swap plants in and out depending on the year or the season, changing up your planter is quite a bit harder to do. Making sure that you have a quality planter that will provide you with a beautiful backdrop for your plants, and stand the test of being outside around your home and garden for more than just a couple weeks is an important part of beginning your home garden.
What you should make sure to get right is the planter itself
What to Plant In Your Planter:
Ferns:
A classic addition to any planter that won’t receive full sunlight throughout the day. Ferns are a phenomenal blend between filler and spiller, with their long plant structure and ability to fill the necessary space in your planter. Explore the variety of deep to light greens that a fern can add to your outdoor or indoor spaces to give your planter that true sense of a fresh pop of greenery.
Ivy:
One of the best forms of a spiller, ivy plants are known for their long climbing, crawling limbs. Another shade lover that will thrive in a number of different environments, ivy plants will both fill your planter and spill over the sides, adding a space-filling aspect to any area. Take a look at all the different types of ivy to find a style and color that fits both your home and planter, whether you are looking for a more traditional type of ivy, or a more varied plant to make your area stand out.
Succulents:
Perfect for planting indoors, succulents are a fantastic filler for any tall planter. Boasting one of the widest arrays of shapes and colors, succulents are mostly easy to maintain (as they require less watering on average) and add a unique element to your planter, without taking away from the beauty of your planter as a whole. Make sure that your succulents get plenty of sunlight, and are in a properly drained planter for best results.
Petunias:
Looking for a thriller that is easy to take care of? Petunias are a phenomenal option to add to your repertoire as a gardener. With a variety of bright colors that will surely catch the eye, and a hardy enough plant structure to handle being planted in either a planter or in the ground, petunias can be your thriller stalwart in any home and garden. While these flowers don’t love direct sunlight for the entire day, make sure they are in a partially shaded area that gets around 6 hours of sunlight a day for maximum growth.
Happy Gardening
Hopefully you have gotten some design inspiration for your next gardening adventure from this article. If you need some more information, hop on over to our Tall Planters category page to see our wide variety of gorgeous tall planters, or take a look at the design studio to see all the incredible things our customers have done with their very own H Potter products. Until next time, happy gardening!