How She Did It: Huge Planters Overflow With Seasonal Color
Container gardens frame an entry with fountains of color from spring through fall. Get this Wisconsin homeowner’s how-to
Annie Thornton
25 August 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff
Dawn Young wanted “something that would get big, bold, bright and beautiful” when she created two matching container gardens this spring for her home in Wisconsin. She started with cool-season blooms, swapping out plants as the weather warmed. By summer, the 6-foot-tall gardens overflowed in bold yellow, orange, red and chartreuse hues, capturing the colors of the season in a pot.
Once the first frost hits, Young will replace the most tender plants with those that can handle colder temperatures, keeping the garden going through fall.
Once the first frost hits, Young will replace the most tender plants with those that can handle colder temperatures, keeping the garden going through fall.
Dawn Young sits next to one of her containers 5-6 weeks after adding her summer plants.
Each pot is 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide at the top. Young looked for pots that were the right size, material and color to take the place of overgrown bushes that had previously flanked the great room windows and doors where these pots would sit.
Each pot is 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide at the top. Young looked for pots that were the right size, material and color to take the place of overgrown bushes that had previously flanked the great room windows and doors where these pots would sit.
Young stuffs the containers so they would look filled-out from the day they were planted. The plants she uses are often treated like annuals in Wisconsin. Shown here in this year’s summer pots:
- Orange canna lily (Canna sp.)
- ‘Brilliancy’ coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides ‘Brilliancy’)
- Vino coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides ‘Balcovino’)
- Orange million bells (Calibrachoa sp.)
- Yellow tickseed (Coreopsis sp.)
- Golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’)
- Sedge (Carex sp.)
Four weeks after replanting for summer, the containers had filled in and grown up.
Her Planting Method
Container gardening ideas for every season
Her Planting Method
- Before filling the containers, Young placed them in their ultimate spot. “These babies are heavy and in place not to be moved,” Young says. The planters are located in the backyard, face southwest and receive six to eight hours of direct sunlight, she says.
- She then filled the base of each container with large, uneven stones to help ensure good drainage.
- The rest of the container was filled with high-quality potting mix that had fertilizer mixed in. (Young doesn’t use any other fertilizer during the season.)
- The orange-flowering canna, the tallest plant, sits in the back of the summer planting. A dark coleus is on the inside of each pot and the orange-red coleus sits opposite so the containers mirror each other. The chartreuse creeping Jenny spills out the sides, and the orange million bells and the yellow tickseed grow in front. “Think thriller, filler and spiller,” Young says, referring to the common rule for grouping plants in a pot.
- Young overplanted the containers, allowing the strongest plants to overtake the weaker ones so the containers would be stunning during the entire short Wisconsin growing season.
Container gardening ideas for every season
Here’s how the two pots look flanking the entry five to six weeks after they were planted.
The Gardener’s Tips
More
The Secret Formula for Grouping Plants in a Pot
9 Ways to Refresh Your Summer Container Gardens for Fall
Browse garden flowers and plants
Find the right container for your project
The Gardener’s Tips
- The containers dry out quickly. “I water them daily with a hose,” Young says, checking that the soil is dry to the touch before watering.
- Get your container garden off to a good start by using quality potting soil and plants suited to the coming season.
- Don’t be afraid to overplant the containers, especially in a region like Wisconsin, where the growing season is short. “You need to start with decent-size plants. You cannot put in tiny plants and expect that you [will] be able to fill a container this size in a month or two,” Young says.
- Have fun with your plant selections. “Nature’s colors all go together. Just remember to balance it out by using contrasting shapes and textures,” Young says.
More
The Secret Formula for Grouping Plants in a Pot
9 Ways to Refresh Your Summer Container Gardens for Fall
Browse garden flowers and plants
Find the right container for your project
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Lovely, pictures from all. There is something joyous about the textures, colors, and variety of shapes. The city of Boston has big pots planted all around the city. They change the plants with the changing season. I have tried to get someone from the dept that plants the pots to post pics on their social media page, no luck.
Oh how beautiful!!!! I wish I had a green thumb! Perhaps if I follow her instructions, I can have my pots looking like hers next spring.
I followed your advice and love the results! These are early pictures 2 weeks after planting and because my front door faces East, I nearly always have to move my pots to one side to shade them from getting burned. Having built-in rollers pots from Ikea really helps especially at clean-up times on the porch.
I also fill the lower half of my big pots with the crushed plastic containers the plants came in to save on dirt and for drainage. These are mostly annuals so their root systems don't require deep soil. Once Fall comes I'll remove any plants that die back and replace with cabbage, pansies and mums. The Persian shield will hopefully survive as a houseplant.