Gardening Tips

Maximizing Creativity: Great Plants to use in Containers

February 2011

Whether you are an avid gardener who has never tried container gardening before—or someone who is trying to see how green their thumb really is—you may be wondering what annuals work well in containers. Below is a list of container-friendly plants that can be found at most greenhouses or retail stores with a Lawn & Garden department. Remember when designing your container to keep the ‘Thriller, Filler, Spiller’ concept in mind (refer to the ‘Gardening with Containers’ article).

Plant Name	Bloom Color	Light	Habit (Use)
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’)	Purple plumes, burgundy tinted foliage	Part to full sun	Upright, arching (Thriller)
Cordyline (Cordyline)	Foliage shades of green to reddish-purple	Part shade to full sun	Upright (Thriller)
Phormium (Phormium tenax)	Foliage colors vary; greens, reds, bronze, etc	Full sun	Upright, spiky (Thriller)
Geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum)	Red, pink, salmon, or white flowers	Part to full sun	Mounding (Filler)
Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides)	Foliage green, pink, yellow, black, red, maroon and combinations of.	Shade to sun	Upright to mounding (Filler)
Impatiens (Impatiens x walleriana)	Red, pink, salmon, coral, white, lavender, etc.	Shade to sun	Trailing to mounding (Filler or Spiller)
Trailing verbena (Verbena hybrida)	Pinks, purples, reds, white.	Full Sun	Trailing (Spiller)
Million bells (Calibrachoa)	Violet, pink, red, magenta, yellow, bronze, white	Part to full sun	Trailing to mounding (Spiller)
Petunia (Petunia)	White, reds, pinks, purples, lavender	Full Sun	Trailing to mounding (Spiller)
Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas)	Chartreuse to green to purple	Part shade to full sun	Trailing (Spiller)
Begonia (Begonia)	Red, white, pink, yellow, orange	Shade to Sun	Trailing to mounding (Spiller)
Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)	Purple, white	Sun to part shade	Upright mounding (Filler)
Dahlia (Dahlia)	Available in most colors except true blue	Full Sun	Upright (Thriller or Filler)
Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’)	Chartreuse foliage	Sun to part shade	Trailing (Spiller)
Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia)	Lavenders, pinks, purples, white.	Full Sun	Upright mounding (Filler)
African Daisy (Osteospermum)	Pink, purple, white, yellow, orange,	Full Sun	Upright mounding (Filler)
Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)	Reds, pinks, white, lavenders	Full Sun	Upright mounding (Filler)
Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra)	Variegated foliage	Full sun to part shade	Mounding (Filler or Spiller)

This is just a sampling of the hundreds of plants that can easily be grown in containers. Feel free to try whatever plants you want and let your creativity go wild! The American Horticultural Society’s A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is a great reference book containing specific cultural information for garden plants. The Green Bay Botanical Garden also has an extensive library containing books with ideas for container design and plant combinations. If you are simply looking for pictures to spark your creativity, go onto the internet and search ‘Container Gardening Ideas’. And during the growing season, make sure to visit the garden for the latest plant introductions and trends in plant combinations!