Better Homes & Gardens
13.06.2024 - 13:31 / gardengatemagazine.com / Marisa Reyes
Easy Summer Flower Planter Ideas Transform your outdoor living spaces with these 3 container recipes full of textures and blooms. 3 Flower planter ideas perfect for summer!
Perched on a balcony or nestled in a cozy patio corner, container gardens transform outdoor living areas into lush getaways. Whether it’s a tropical-themed container with towering palms and vivid underplantings, a colorful mix of coleus and trailing fanflower, or the simplicity of a succulent display, these summer plantings are your ticket to months of vibrant blooms and foliage textures.
Add bold texture to your containers with coleusThis container combo is sure to draw attention. The large, cup-shaped leaves of the elephant ear tower above the rest of the plants and create a dramatic backdrop with their dark, coffee-colored foliage. Coleus leaves’ bright, intricate patterns in crimson, green and yellow hues complement the darker tones of the elephant ear. Cool blue blooms of ‘Whirlwind Blue’ fanfl ower form a delicate fringe around the pot.
A) Elephant ear Colocasia ‘Coffee Cups’
B) Coleus Plectranthus scutellarioides El Brighto
C) Fanflower Scaevola Whirlwind® Blue
Container shown is 18 inches in diameter
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Better Homes & Gardens
Planting up a flower bed can seem a bit daunting to begin with. Initially, it’s important to consider factors such as the size of your bed, how much sun it gets, the quality of your soil and what kind of planting and colour scheme will suit your house style and your own preferences.
Image: Hampton Court Flower Festival. Credit: RHS
Summer is the season all gardeners await. The bright sun and warm weather signal the start of the showiest time of year, and nowhere is this excitement more evident than with container gardening. Garden stores are overflowing with plants and pots in every color, size, style, and shape. Whether you lean toward tropicals or are smitten by succulents, summer is the season to show off your talents. To get you started, we’ve assembled a few designs by Riz Reyes of Seattle and Julie Chai of San Francisco (for Julie’s designs, see part 1 of this article). We invite you to tap into their creativity—and to expand upon their tips—to make this your best container season yet.
Summer is the season all gardeners await. The bright sun and warm weather signal the start of the showiest time of year, and nowhere is this excitement more evident than with container gardening. Garden stores are overflowing with plants and pots in every color, size, style, and shape. Whether you lean toward tropicals or are smitten by succulents, summer is the season to show off your talents. To get you started, we’ve assembled a few designs by Julie Chai of San Francisco and Riz Reyes of Seattle (for Riz’s designs, see part 2 of this article). We invite you to tap into their creativity—and to expand upon their tips—to make this your best container season yet.
You can easily grow this plant with seeds.
This year Chelsea Flower Show was full of interesting trees and shrubs with lots of dreamy woodland-edge planting in dappled light underneath leafy canopies. Native trees such as hawthorns, hazels and silver birch were the favoured choices in many of the show gardens, with a mixture of native and non-native ornamental plants selected for resilience and sustainability. In Ula Maria’s Forest Bathing Garden, white foxgloves, cow parsley and other umbellifers like Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis) were mixed with the simple shade-loving grass Melica altissima ‘Alba’ while Tom Stuart-Smith showcased intricate tapestries of interesting foliage in different shapes and textures. In other gardens, orange was a popular colour in many shades, from deep rusty orange irises to pale orange geums, especially in Ann Marie-Powell’s exuberant Octavia Hill Garden. As always, the Grand Pavilion is the ideal place to discover new and interesting plants showcased by some of the country’s leading nurseries.
Boxwoods can be fantastically formal hedges or the basis of whimsical topiaries on their own, but, if you know what to plant in front of boxwoods, they’re also the perfect backdrop for a dazzling mix of companion plants. You can pair boxwoods with a combination of smaller shrubs, perennial plants, herbs, and even flowering bulbs. This supplies winter interest, attracts pollinators, keeps deer away, and more. No matter what effect you’re after, the plants you choose should play nicely with your boxwoods and fit in with your growing conditions as well as the size of your landscaping area. Keep reading for lots of beautiful ideas of what to plant in front of boxwoods. Why boxwoods are so popular Hailed as “man’s oldest garden ornament,” boxwoods have served as the “bones” or foundational plantin
Wondering what you should be planting, harvesting, and keeping an eye on this growing season? Here’s your summer garden checklist to help you keep on top of garden maintenance.
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