The Ultimate Centerpieces - Potted Plants
By Ken Lain, The Garden Guy

There is never a “wrong” time to fill a container with colorful plants to bring a fresh touch to any style garden. Pots of flowers and brightly colored foliage can be an inexpensive way to garden and are far easier to plant than putting them in the ground. Caring for plants in containers on tables and plant stands can enable elderly and even disabled gardeners to continue gardening when moving about in the yard becomes a challenge. For the more ambitious gardener, containers can be changed out with the seasons. Using containers to fill gaps in my garden is helpful when I need more time to figure out permanent plantings.

I enjoy creating garden vignettes with flower-filled containers. Last year I filled a container with the leftovers from my garden plantings; the effect was striking and cost-effective. I especially enjoy working a surprise factor into my container gardens. For instance, at the front door I have a tomato plant surrounded with solar yellow marigolds. It's unusual to find tomatoes in an entryway centerpiece, but the addition of the marigolds creates a really stunning eye-catcher. I like to spray my tomato cages in colors that make them stand out and be noticed. A brightly colored cage instantly becomes the exclamation point of the centerpiece.

Four helpful bits of advice if you want to create your own container centerpiece:
1) Make sure to have drainage out the bottom of the container.
2) Use as much soil as possible. The more soil in a container the easier it is to keep watered through summer.
3) Using the correct potting soil will make or break a successful container project. Ask to
buy the very best potting soil or professional mix. You might be surprised that the best is
not a variety of a national brand.
4) When planting your containers try to think like a florist. You’ve seen how the pros use tall colorful plants at the back with smaller flowering plants flowing over the edges. Following this approach will result in some easy to do and easy on the eyes planted containers.

Some of my favorite plant combinations for containers in sun-splashed locations are: mandevilla vine, harlequin dahlias, and barnyard blue verbena, with white alyssum filling every vacant nook and cranny. For shady spots I really enjoy a mixture of King Kong coleus, Icicle helichrysum, begonias, and ivy geraniums spilling over the sides. Large containers are a great place to keep corralled those “prone-to-go-wild” plants like bamboo and purple fountain grass. Using rambling petunias and million bells to spill over the edges of these bigger containers makes for a really impressive display.

This year for my containers I chose annuals with small foliage and flowers. The two flowering plants are Babylon blue verbena and orange million bells. I incorporated Kiwi Fern Coleus because of its colorful narrow foliage. Fiber optic grass is part of the design because it has delicate fine blades with buff color flowers on the tips and it drapes over the edges of the pots. Finally, the other foliage plant is a ferny-textured silver Artemisia, used for filling in bare spots.
Just as a residential doorway should be welcoming, so should the entrance to a business. A front entrance enhanced by a large container of plants is a graciously warm invitation to do business. Once commercial doorways have tried them, they’re never again without them.

In June the light posts on the Prescott courthouse square will be decorated with my hanging baskets. These are super-sized containers designed to take summer heat and wind yet bold enough to make a living, colorful statement through autumn. Of course, I have grown extras to show off at the garden center. They make glorious Mother’s Day gifts although Mom probably will need help to hang them from the porch or by her back door.

I planted two of these stunning hanging baskets for our backyard, but when I got them home I had a scathingly brilliant idea and plopped them into a pair of tall glazed containers. Trust me, these are centerpieces that scream, “Look at us! We’re beautiful!” Sometimes my unexpected creative bursts of genius really surprise me.

Don’t forget that Mother’s Day is this weekend. Also keep in mind that containers filled with blooming plants last much longer than an equivalently priced bouquet of cut flowers. Your favorite garden center has more ideas readily available for Mother’s Day, containers, flower combinations, or anything beautiful for the garden.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

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