> Next: Outdoor Container Flower Gardens
Flowers in Containers
Containers or Beds?
Before you plant, consider growing flowers in containers—and using them both indoors and outdoors—before setting them out in your landscape.
Container gardening is very popular. Groups of planters and decorative containers add design elements in their own right. Planting in containers is a real alternative to digging holes in your garden for your flowers.
Containers are also great for bringing flowers and color to areas without soil at all—paved walks and steps, patios, and decks, along with walls and fences—to brighten your home and garden.
Without doubt, soil beds and borders are the best place for big flowering plants. Even large planters require a bit more care than in-ground flowers.
If it’s flexibility you want, however, planting flowers in containers gains the edge.
First, flowering plants in containers are mobile. You can move containers from place to place.
Many container gardeners bring their prized plants at peak of bloom to center stage for a week or two, then set them out of sight as flowers fade or are growing a new display that blooms weeks in the future.
Containers also call attention to flowers that otherwise might go unnoticed or raise the blooms of fragrant flowers to nose level.
Container plants also solve some troubling garden problems.
Use containers to grow flowering plants that would languish in a difficult in-ground spot, such as deeply shaded areas of your yard. Move in potted foliage annuals for a few weeks at a time, but out again to allow them time to recover in a brighter spot.
Containers solve bad soil issues for flower gardeners. They’re a real alternative to amending soil or altering a landscape.
And, of course, they’re the only answer for those in apartments, condominiums, and townhouses without outdoor landscapes to plant.
Always keep in mind these container requirements:
-
-
- Planting annuals in containers adds a few extra steps to the process of planning and preparing but saves on stooping and maintenance.
- You must allow for the depth, shape, and volume of each container to accommodate your plants.
- Consider the container’s construction, composition, weight, liners, watering aids, potting soil, fertilizer and other materials you’ll need.
- The intervals and quantities of water and fertilizer applied to container plants are more frequent and larger than for in-ground flowers.
-
Deciding to grow some of your flowers in containers and others in beds means you’ll enjoy both bouquets of blooms and moveable feasts of flowers.
Indoor Annuals, Perennials, and Bulbs
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could fill your house with your favorite blooms and have their beauty last more than a week? That’s not a fantasy for container gardeners that plant annuals and perennials in pots.
All types of annuals—especially shade lovers—are perfect for bringing the outdoors inside your home. Perennials in containers take up residence indoors with ease. Just give both plenty of light, frequent waterings, and occasional feedings with fertilizer.
Here’s some popular uses to consider for flowering plants grown indoors in containers:
-
-
- Brighten a corner with some daisies. Pansies would be cheery in the breakfast nook.
- Petunias take on a new look when planted in containers and come in a staggering array of colors.
- Lisianthus give rooms a romantic look.
- Sweet alyssum will perfume the house for an entire season.
- Geraniums bear flowers for most of the winter if planted in summer, and they are easy to grow from seedlings or root from cuttings.
- Blanket flowers warm up chilly seasons with their primary colors. They also tolerate occasional missed waterings.
- Of many foliage plants with variegated or colorful leaves, coleus—grown for its kaleidoscope-patched foliage—always keep their color.
- Remember to plant a flowering herb garden of rosemary, basil, thyme, and thyme for your kitchen windowsill. You’ll quickly find yourself reaching for these fresh herbs instead of bottles of dried spices.
-
Regardless of your favorites, you’ll develop a new appreciation for flowers when they are a lasting contribution to your home.