100 Container Gardening Ideas

Hostas, Violas & Blue Phlox

We're kicking off our list of Container Gardening Ideas with a tip that will have you thinking outside the box—or planter.

Consider using a cast-concrete pool for a miniature garden. Because these pools are made to accommodate plumbing, there are already holes in the bottom that allow for drainage.

Pansies, Violas, Panolas, Grass & Ivy

Orange pansies, violas, and Panolas provide a warm autumnal welcome in this grouping. Try pairing colorful and distinctive flowers like these with a textural plant, like a grass.

Magnolia, Spider Plant & Caladiums

Red ‘Freida Hemple’ caladiums, a spider plant, and a ‘Little Gem’ Southern magnolia decorate a large pot in the corner and hide the downspout. Smaller pots of the same caladiums tie together the grouping.

• Learn More about Magnolias

Agave

Use decorative ground covers to jazz up your potted plantings. A potted blue agave surrounded by pebbles serves as a living sculpture on this deck.

Mixed Succulents

Use plantings to eliven your outdoor table. This shallow bowl of mixed succulents makes a great centerpiece.

• Heat-Savvy Desert Plants

Grasses & Caladiums

Use textural plants for extra drama. This homeowner added spiky and vertical plants, such as ornamental grasses and caladiums, to her pots.

• See More Poolside Escapes

Sweet Flag & Creeping Jenny

Let your plants spill out of their container. A generous planting of golden variegated sweet flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’) fills this kettle, with golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’) trailing out and onto the gravel below.

• Tour this Historic North Carolina Garden

Tiny Succulents

Use containers to fill bare spots in your garden. This concrete planter, tucked into a planting of dianthus, is filled with tiny textured succulents, pulling you in for a closer look.

• See this Charming Cottage Garden

Lettuce & Ornamentals

Use unique containers like vintage wooden boxes and buckets as container gardens. Be sure to drill drainage holes before planting. This variety of planters is filled with a mix of edibles, like lettuce, and decoratives, like marigolds and geraniums.

Rosemary Topiary

Add some height to the center of a flowerbed by placing a very vertical potted plant in the middle. Here, a potted rosemary topiary rises above the other edibles in this bed.

Mandevilla

Mandevillas in containers twine through this railing on a rooftop deck. Reveling in hot weather, mandevilla can grow more than 10 feet a year.

Hanging Ferns

Add charm with hanging ferns—a quintessential feature for any Southern porch. Cheery containers also add inviting color to this porch.

• See more Porches and Patios

Trailing Petunias

Add color to your outdoor party with potted plants. There’s no need for a patterned tablecloth here. Potted petunias add all the color you need under the glass-top dining table.

• Give your Yard a Party Makeover

White Impatiens

Use white to lighten your garden. Pots of white impatiens brighten this shady corner with hundreds of blooms.

Lettuce, Violas & Mums

Don’t ignore edibles when selecting your planting materials. Different varieties of lettuce have beautiful color and texture. Here, several leafy edibles mix with violas and mums.

• How to Grow Fresh Lettuce

Coleus, Begonias & Purple Fountain Grass

Coleus, begonias, and purple fountain grass spill from this spectacular window box, completely hiding the container.

Elephant's Ear & Sweet Potato Vine

Create a fresh, eye-catching centerpiece—or block an unsightly view—in your yard with a giant elephant's ear. This elephant's ear is placed in a container and set in a small pond, thus eliminating the need for watering.

Variegated Boxwood & Violas

Not all boxwoods are dark green. Variegated American boxwood (‘Elegantissima’) and white violas illuminate this garden corner.

Colorful Mixture

Containers were brought right up to this pool’s edge to beautify the landscape and help integrate the pool into the environment. Colorful plantings are reflected in the water, doubling the impact.

Violas

Repeat your plants in containers and flowerbeds. Pots of violas climb these front steps, seeming to spill out into the flowerbeds for a lush, fluid look.

• Winter Bloomers to Try

Raised Urns

Elevate your containers for impact. These raised urns are filled with pink verbenas and white bacopas.

Coleus & Lantana

Coleus and lantana fit right in with the South’s increasing appetite for hot, cheery, assertive colors that stand up to heat and humidity.

• 10 Plants that Beat the Summer Heat

Mint

Keep more invasive herbs, like mints, contained in pots in your kitchen garden.

• Grow Herbs Anywhere

Caladiums

Integrate planters into your hardscape. This poolside scene includes a trough-like container built right into the bank.

• Our Favorite Caladiums

Blue Lily-of-the-Nile

Lily-of-the-Nile makes a big statement around this pool. The blue of the flowers mirrors the blue of the pool.

Variegated Agave, Lavender, & Japanese Roof Iris

Vary the heights of your containers for greater visual interest. This garden features planters in a range of heights and materials, adding to its ecclectic cottage personality.

Mixed Greens

Use textural leaves for a more modern look. An assortment of plants in shades of green anchors this backyard corner and adds depth in the small space.

• Tour this Small Cottage Garden

Coleus & Ivy

Frame colorful plants with a textured background. These vibrant ‘Molten Orange’ coleus provide a pop of color among textural grass plantings.

• Learn more about Coleus

Cilantro, Parsley & Chives

Transplants of cilantro, parsley, and chives are at their best in late winter months, both in containers and in the ground. Plant them in a shallow box, as pictured, and use them as an outdoor centerpiece.

• Plant Cool-Season Herbs

Boxwoods

Potted boxwoods offer formal elegance with little maintenance. This large American variety creates a living wall in a line of concrete planters.

• Plant Boxwoods in Pots

Evergreens and Annuals

Pair colorful annuals with an evergreen for an established planting that can still change from season to season.

Cascading Geraniums

Mini Cascade ivy geraniums take the South’s summer heat and keep on blooming.

Hens and Chicks

Hen and chicks plants fill this vintage metal planter. The silver undertones of the leaves mirror the copper finish of the tub.

Trailing Algerian Ivy, Needle Palm, & Colorful Annuals

For big impact, use big pots. They’ll accommodate more and larger plants, and the added soil means they won’t need watering as often.

Purple Pixie

Try planting ground cover in a pot. 'Purple Pixie' loropetalum shrub combines showy pink flowers in spring with deep burgundy evergreen foliage and a pronounced weeping form. As a ground cover, it reaches 1 to 2 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide. A 1-gallon plant placed in a 24-inch-tall pot will completely hide the pot in just a couple of years.

Daffodils, Pansies & Violas

Use several flowers of the same color for a greater impact in a small planting. Tall yellow daffodils, medium-size pansies, and small violas are a happy mix in this terra-cotta planter.

Impatiens & Dwarf Spruce

Use impatiens to accent porches and entryways. Here, a skirt of coral impatiens surrounds a dwarf Alberta spruce.

Mixed Succulents

A living arrangement of succulents demands little care and will last for years. The color of these containers brings out the colors in the plants.

Pansies & Violas

As much as we love pansies and violas, they’re vertically challenged. Give them a lift by perching pots on benches and tables or placing them on your steps.

• Secrets for Great Fall Pots

Variegated Silver Grass

Grasses in containers add soft texture and billowing form when placed directly into a border. 'Morning Light’ silver grass in a blue glazed pot lights up in the garden as sun strikes the foliage.

Succulents

Succulents equal low-maintenance. A vintage sorghum pot is filled with cold-hardy succulents that bloom in the fall with flowers that attract masses of bees and need little water.

'Mona Lavender'

Add an unexpected pop of color with a pot of ‘Mona Lavender’ plectranthus. It will brighten the shorter days of fall and add wow to your yard.

Begonias & Dichondra

This pink ‘Dragon Wing’ begonia drips with flowers throughout the summer and into fall. Combine it with ‘Silver Falls’ dichondra for a splash of color against shimmering foliage.

• Learn more about 'Dragon Wing' Begonias

Boxwoods

Mix varieties of the same plant. Dwarf English boxwoods growing in the ground surround a terra-cotta pot planted with an American boxwood.

• Boxwood Basics

Leyland Cypress

Get creative with your containers. This living gate rolls open to let you in and rolls closed for privacy. The structure starts with a galvanized horse trough filled with soil and planted with arborvitaes. A wooden brace attached to an old piano dolly on the bottom allows the container to move with little effort.

• Tour this Budget Backyard

Impatiens, Spider Plant, Begonias, Ferns & Ivy

Hang your baskets in unexpected places. A hook installed in a tree branch holds this basket featuring a sensational combination for the shade.

Purple Heart

Build planters into your hardscaping. A round planter filled with Purple Heart softens the corner of this wall.

White Flowers & Dark Foliage

A blank wall becomes a work of art with the addition of a planter. White flowers and black-green foliage are dramatic, echoing the Gothic style of the planter's ironwork.

Raised Baskets

Flowers don’t have to grow at ground level. Get face-to-face with your containers by literally putting them up on a pedestal! These columned containers consist of coco-fiber baskets atop steel posts.

Coriander, Rosemary & Thyme

Plant a tiny kitchen garden in a pot. Fragrance and flavor are contained in this one display of coriander, rosemary, and thyme.

Pansies

If you’re not yet color confident, choose one flower you love in a favorite shade, and stick with it. For more texture and interest, add foliage that complements the color of your flowers.

• Winter Pansy Tips

Irises & Begonias

Plant an attention grabber with a creative combination. This tall jar showcases Japanese roof irises and creeping strawberry begonias.

Mums, Marigolds, Peppers, & Crotons

Cluster containers in one space for high impact. Look at the group as a whole composition, and plant it as a cohesive unit with complementary and repeated colors.

• Beginner's Guide to Mums

Geraniums, Caladiums & Petunias

Window boxes add lots of character and curb appeal. Plant them with colorful, seasonal annuals.

• Window Box Basics

Multicolored Violas

Adding a bicolored viola to this planter ties together the two solid-colored varieties.

• 15 Tips for Great Winter Pots

Pansies

Large pots can be repurposed around your yard. This unused pot fountain was repurposed as an accent table and stand for a cheerful container planting.

Hanging Annuals

Use an outdoor room, like the space under a pergola, as a place to mix your containers. This grouping has a lush, vibrant mix of planters and hanging pots.

Daffodils & Grape Hyacinth

Daffodils are container-friendly options for spring plantings. Pair them with other spring bloomers with similar condition requirements such as grape hyacinth.

• See Our Complete Daffodil Guide

Petunias

All petunias need good drainage, which growing in a pot (with at least one hole in the bottom) provides. Use a cascading variety for a luxurious planting.

Pink Geraniums

Geraniums in full bloom really make an impact. Flowers come in many different colors and may be single or double. Pinch off old, faded blooms to keep new flowers forming.

• Planting Geraniums

Cascading Geraniums

The cascading form of ivy geraniums makes them ideal for hanging baskets and window boxes. This basket is filled with the ‘Sophie Cascade’ variety.

• Get Inspired by Disney's Hanging Baskets

Impatiens

Impatiens are one of the best options for flowers that take heat and humidity. Lush mounds of potted impatiens border this pool.

• Learn More About Impatiens

Boxwood Topiaries

Boxwood’s willingness to be clipped, shaped, and trained makes it the perfect candidate for a classic topiary.

• 10 Spectacular Topiary Designs

Red Rice

A chicken feeder planted with ‘Red Dragon’ rice makes a novel addition to this deck railing. (Note: Red rice is considered a serious weed in rice-growing areas. However, it’s okay to plant it elsewhere.)

Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa looks like a miniature petunia. Forming a trailing mound, it’s perfect for pots and hanging baskets.

Coleus, Joseph's Coat, Verbena, Fan Flower, Calibranchoa & Petunias

Unlike cut blooms, a living flower arrangement planted in a container gives you color and beauty for months. Combine plants that thrive in the same growing conditions and offer colors and textures that complement each other.

• Dazzling Petunias

Grasses & Succulents

Grasses and succulents have great textural contrast. 'Amazon Mist’ sedge grass combines wonderfully with creeping sedum and purple echeveria in this planting.

Lily-of-the-Nile

Select plants that perform well in containers, such as lily-of-the-Nile, which can stay in the same pot for years. It doesn’t mind crowded roots.

Mandevilla

Go tropical with Mandevilla. A prolific vine, it twines around any structure, and its large blossoms are knockouts.

• Best New Flowers for the South

Boxwoods

Give your containers a boost. Classic pedestals raise these potted boxwoods to new heights, adding variety to the arrangement.

Ivy, Ferns, Impatiens & Caladiums

Update your standard plastic planter. A gel stain was applied to this pot for a richer finish.

Purple Fountain Grass & Coleus

Purple fountain grass looks great in containers. Its vertical shape creates an exclamation point in the border. Purplish red leaves and plumes combine well with red coleus. This grass isn’t winter hardy in most areas, but new plants bought in spring are inexpensive and grow quickly.

Caladiums

The colorful foliage of caladiums has tons of drama. Pots containing three different caladiums add color and variety to this entry in summer. From left to right: ‘June Bride,’ ‘Pink Gem,’ and ‘Aaron’

• Caladiums 101

Petunias

An easy way to add color in your garden is to integrate potted plantings of annuals. These containers of petunias surround a trellis of climbing vines.

White Flowers & Silver Foliage

Window boxes needn’t be hung only below windows. This charming barn gets even more character from being accented by window box plantings.

• Tour this Shady Backyard Retreat

Tulips, Pansies Foxgloves, & Grasses

When planning your flowerbeds, buy extra plants for accents. These containers were planted with flowers left over from the borders. Not only do the containers look great, but also they tie back into the colors of the adjacent walk.

Large Succulent

If you don't want to spend all of your time watering, stick with easy-care options in some of your containers. Succulents and bougainvilleas need little care in containers.

Petunias, Begonias & Cypress

Stacked pots offer opportunities to layer texture and color in your plantings. A mixture of colorful annuals and textural foliage fills this grouping.

Twinspurs, Violas and Kale

March weather is unpredictable, so for those cool days, try the prolific pink blooms of 'Strawberry Sundae' twinspurs (Diascia hybrid). They will keep looking great even when temperatures fluctuate.

Tulips, Pansies, Acorus, Heuchera, Ivy and Fern

Pair your tulips with Lavender Blue' and 'Purple Wing' Plentifall pansies, acorus, heuchera, variegated ivy, and 'Tiger' fern (a selection of Boston fern).

Snapdragons, Penny Violas, Tulips, Parsley and Ivy

Add height to your containers with showy snapdragons. They pair well with a mixture of Penny violas, tulips, parsley, and ivy.

Succulents

Forgiving succulents are both heat and drought tolerant, so they'll look great all summer long.

• Get the Planting Guide

Evergreens

This shade-loving combo adds color to any entry.

• Get the Planting Guide

Fire Up Fall with Color

Go-to grasses and can't-fail lantanas mark the advent of a bright new season.

• Get the Planting Guide

Go For Gold

These bright blooms of 'Ogon' golden sweet flag, 'Matrix Yellow Blotch' pansies, and 'Penny Clear Yellow' violas will make your pots and flowerbeds glow.

Easy to Maintain Miniature Garden

When filling a show-stopping window box, don't hesitate to use small evergreen shrubs or perennials, which last throughout the seasons. In the fall, turn to mums, kales, pansies, violas, and snapdragons for color, and then add a few daffodil or tulip bulbs for a pop in the spring.

• See a window box planting guide

Collard Greens

Easy and versatile, collards have graced Southern gardens and tables for generations. A cousin to kale and cabbage, these nutritious, leafy greens thrive in the cooler weather of fall and early spring.

• Learn how to plant and care for collards

Poinsettia Tree Container

To create a poinsettia tree, follow these instructions: First, cut the larger blooms, leaving about 6 inches of stem. Sear them quickly to stop sap from dripping out. Sap should bubble under the candle flame, and the ends of the stems will turn black. You may also need to sear the points where larger leaves were removed along the stems. Insert each seared stem into a water-filled florist tube. Stems are hollow and will absorb water after being seared. Place the stems into the base of the ivy topiary. Then repeat this process with the medium-size and smaller poinsettia blooms, cutting the stems so they're about 4 inches long. Insert blossoms into the topiary, working your way toward the top. Once it's complete, care is simple—just add water to the tubes every few days, as needed.

Terrarium

To make a terrarium, choose a glass container with an opening wide enough for your hand. Gently add an inch or two of washed, fine gravel. Top gravel with a thin layer of activated aquarium carbon. (You'll find both items at your local pet store.) Next, add moistened potting soil, and you'll be ready to plant. Create a collection of plants, or showcase just one. Good choices include ferns, succulents, mosses, miniature moth orchids, African violets, and kalanchoes.

Fill a Big Container

Make a statement with a large overflowing container against a blank wall, parking court, or at the edge of a terrace and fill with 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia, coleus, 'Supertunia Vista Bubblegum' petunia, and geranium.

Potted English Ivy Topiaries

Combine several English ivy topiaries and a clipped lemon cypress to accent a garden table. Mix spirals, globes, columns, and lollipop shapes of varying heights. Unify the look with terra-cotta pots. We love the flared sides of these by Campo de' Fiori (campodefiori.com). The topiaries are by Schubert Nursery (schubertnursery.com), available at your local garden center.

Grow Daffodils in Containers

This is a great way to get lots of punch from just a few dozen bulbs. You can move containers to wherever you need color on a particular day, be it your front door, porch, steps, or patio. As soon as the bulbs finish blooming, plant them in the garden. No bulbs are easier for container growing in the South.

Eat Your Greens (and Reds)

Plant colorful red and green Wildfire mix lettuces in a sunny spot near the kitchen to make it easy to prepare salads with your fresh harvest.

Tough As Nails Perennial

Yellow acorus, lime green euphorbia, purple viola, variegated ivy, and pink Lenten rose make this container pop. Combine lenten roses with these three great plants for maximum curb appeal:

• Hostas: Their wide leaves hide the foliage of fading bulbs.
• Daffodils: Early-blooming types continue the show.
• Black mondo grass: It's dark, grassy foliage provides excellent contrast.

Brighten a Shady Spot

'Aaron' caladium, holly fern, 'Key Lime Pie' heuchera, 'White Nancy' lamium, ivy, and light pink periwinkle come together in this eye-catching window box.

Beat the Heat

The ideal focal point or space filler in an area that receives full to partial sun, this container is filled with 'Baby Tut' dwarf papyrus, elephant's ear, 'Blackie' sweet potato vine, and 'Vogue Audrey' mandevilla.

Edible Garden

Not sunny enough in the backyard? Move your herbs up front. An urn ringed with mondo grass becomes a formal perch for these practical plants.

Bargain Blooms

Take advantage of seasonal sales at your local nursery, and stock up on popular plants. Keep them in their nursery pots, and display them in galvanized buckets on the porch until you are ready to plant them in your garden. Recreate this look with gerbera daisies, salvias, shasta daisies, daylilies, and sweet potato vines. 

Beautiful Baskets

Hanging baskets follow the same recipe as containers as far as care goes. But instead of an upright thriller plant, you want more spillers and fillers. Calibrachoa in red, purple, and yellow fill out fast with blooms that look like miniature petunias.

Bring on Spring!

Combine daffodils with citrus hues and fragrant seasonal blooms for colorful containers that keep on giving. This trio combines floriferous 'Superbells Dreamsicle' calibrachoa, fragrant 'Snow Princess' sweet alyssum, and cool-weather 'Sunsatia Lemon' nemesia.