If you are searching for what to plant in tall planters this summer, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll show you exactly how to fill those tall pots with flowers to make your house beautiful all summer long!
You’ll remember back in my previous post about homemaking I talked about gardening as a simple skill for homemakers. Gardening doesn’t mean you need to have a vegetable garden in your backyard, it can be as basic as two pots by your front door. Beautiful flowers add life to your home as people enter and will personally give you so much joy, too!
In this post I’ll explain exactly what to plant in tall planters this summer!
What to Plant in Tall Planters This Summer
Pick and Prep Your Planters
I love tall planters because they make a big statement and can be seen more easily from the road. Tall planters also allow room for trailing flowers, which I love! When I was purchasing my pots I wanted something that coordinated with our house and wouldn’t take away from the bright colors of the flowers. I found these black planters at Lowe’s, but you can also check your local garden center or even Home Goods. You also want to be sure that your pots have drainage holes to let excess water flow out.
After deciding on the perfect planters, you will need to put some sort of filler in the bottom before adding potting soil. Rocks, broken up bricks or pebbles work great as fillers. These help the water drain properly and also take up space so you’re not having to fill the whole planter with potting soil.
Finally, you will add the potting soil. I like this Miracle-Gro potting mix, but there are so many options out there that will work great.
Consider your weather conditions…
I live in South Carolina where the summers are HOT and humid. My front porch also gets full sun, so I have to pick my flowers accordingly. Before you start picking out all the beautiful flowers, stop and consider your weather conditions and the amount of sun your planters will get throughout the day. If you’re new to gardening, I recommend going to your local plant nursery and asking which flowers they recommend according to the conditions of your planters.
You also want to be realistic about how much effort you want to put into your flower pots. Some flowers require much more maintenance than others. Personally, I want relatively low maintenance plants. I know that I’ll be able to remember to water them every day, but I don’t want to have to do much more than that. Decide what commitment level works for you!
Select the flowers
Now it’s time to pick out the flowers! Generally for planters you want to go with the rule of “thrillers, fillers, spillers”.
Thrillers are plants that draw a lot of attention to the pot. For my flower arrangement I chose coral/red geraniums. These show up so well from the road and are pretty low maintenance. Other thriller options could be:
- Hydrangeas
- Snap Dragons
- Caladium
Fillers are plants that help cover the soil and “fill” in the blank spots. In my pots, the tall grass and the purslane serve as fillers. These are very low maintenance and will handle the heat all summer long. Other filler options could be:
- Lantana
- Vincas
- Calibrachoa
Spillers are those flowers that trail over the pot. The sweet potato vine is my main spiller, but the purslane is actually a trailing flower too.
- Ivy
- Creeping Jenny
- Any kind of trailing flower
Time to Plant
Finally, you are ready to plant the beautiful flowers you’ve picked out! I like to start it in the back of the planters and work my way forward.
I first put my tall grass in the very back, centered. Next, I plant my “thriller”, the geranium right in the center of the pot. Then, I add my sweet potato vine as the “spiller” in the very front. Finally, I add one purslane on either side of the sweet potato vine. The purslane is also a trailing flower, so I want to be sure these have room to grow over the pot.
Add in more potting mix to be sure it is very full. Once you water it the soil will sink down some, so don’t be afraid have it mound up a little. I like to add a little Miracle-Gro fertilizer to help the flowers to continue to bloom.
Lastly, water your flowers! Be sure to check the tag that comes with your flowers for how often the plants need watering. Over-watering can be just as bad as not watering enough!
Enjoy!
Now it’s time to enjoy your newly planted flowers all summer long!
Extra Tips:
- To keep your flowers blooming throughout the season, be sure to cut back dead blooms.
- Sometimes flowers don’t make it through the whole season if you live in a very hot climate. Don’t be afraid to pull up one of your plants halfway through and put something new there. For instance, my Geranium may not take the heat once July hits. I will probably pull that up and put Vincas in its place, as these are colorful and take the heat well.
