Container Gardening with Perennials

With container gardening becoming the hottest trend in home horticulture, it is important to remember that beautiful container gardens are not just for annuals.

Salvia x Maraschino
Item # 84740 		Salvia 'Maraschino'
Maraschino Bush Salvia

each $7.99
3 to 6 plants $7.79
7 or more $7.59
Viola corsica
Item # 97450 		Viola corsica
Corsican Pansy

each $5.49
3 to 6 plants $5.29
7 or more $4.99
Aquilegia chrysantha v chaplinei
Item # 20814 		Aquilegia chrysantha v. chaplinei 'Little Treasure'
Dwarf Golden Spur Columbine

each $5.99
3 to 6 plants $5.79
7 or more $5.59
Agastache Sampler Collection
Item # 99511 		Agastache Sampler
Hummingbird Mint Collection

each $36.95
Container Potting Kit
Item # H0015 		Container Potting Kit

each $37.85
Blue Talavera Trio
Item # D0076 		Blue Talavera Pot
Handmade Blue Talavera Ceramic Pot

each $69.95

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With container gardening becoming the “hottest” trend in the world of home horticulture, it is important to remember that beautiful container gardens are not just for annuals. Perennials can also be used very creatively to compose a potted garden. But remember, annuals bloom all season while many perennials have a much shorter bloom time. Plant a pot with only late spring bloomers and you’ll have a container with no color the rest of the summer.

Top Picks

Among my top picks for containers includes the hummingbird mints (Agastache Sampler). These showy, long blooming perennials thrive in pots. In fact, for gardeners who live in areas too cold or too wet over the winter to grow them in ground beds, containers are a great way to enjoy Agastache year-after-year. Plant ever-blooming Hymenoxys acaulis ‘Sundancer Daisy’ around the sides of the pots for a superbly colorful combination. Long blooming Salvia x ‘Maraschino’ and Salvia x ‘Raspberry Delight’ are also top notch container selections when planted with Hymenoxys.

For Flashy Color

If you love bright yellows, oranges and reds, long blooming, heat loving perennials like Gaillardia ‘Goblin’, Achillea ‘Moonshine’, Coreopsis ‘Sunray’ and Stachys coccinea ‘Hot Spot Coral’ make a dynamite combination. For semi-shade areas Dwarf Golden Spur Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha ‘Little Treasure’) can be surrounded with Corsican Pansy (Viola corsica) and ‘Coral Canyon’ Twinspur (Diascia integerrima).

Use Grasses

Include ornamental grasses whenever possible as they are stunning focal points in pots. Silky Thread Grass (Nasella tenuissima) is one of the best with its finely textured emerald green foliage and shimmering flowering spikes. ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) grass is the best upright grower for use in urn-shaped pots around entrances and along side ponds and pools.

Cacti and Succulents

There are a natural for container gardens. Hardy Purple Iceplant (Delosperma cooperi) has summer-long magenta flowers and its cascading habit softens the edges of pots. For a touch of the Southwest, Texas Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) grows vigorously in pots, providing graceful dark green foliage and tall wands of coral-red, hummingbird attracting flowers during the hottest months of summer.

The Right Pot

When choosing a decorative container, buy ‘em big. Perennial plants usually have a larger root system than annuals and perform best when not root-bound. Depending on the vigor of the perennials, you should take them out of their pots every year or two, divide them, trim the roots and re-plant them into a pot with fresh soil. Use a good quality soil-less potting mix (not unamended garden soil) and mix in a generous portion of Yum Yum Mix for additional nutrients. Supplement the Yum Yum Mix with a liquid fertilizer once every two to three weeks.