Summer Containers and Native Plants!

21 hours ago
4 min read

Light, breezy and easy.

grey pot with green tree and smaller plants beneath — Arborvitae, American Alumroot, Heuchera ' Caramel', Wild Violet

Whether you are just starting a garden or are a pro, planting in containers is creative, easy and fun! Want to spruce up a front or back door step, color up your balcony or try a plant not suited to your garden conditions? You can do it with native plants and containers!

window box with narrow sjhort evergreen tree and other plants — Arborvitae 'Sting', American Alumroot, Heuchera Cultivar, Meehan's Mint

Container Basics

Use potting soil rather than soil from your garden. It's ok to reuse potting soil from older containers for a temporary container.
Make sure your container has a drainage hole and that the pot is elevated with pot feet, stones or whatever you have so water can actually leave the drainage hole.
Don't stuff the bottom of your container with anything other than soil; it will disrupt the drainage.
The larger your container, the less frequently it will need watering.
For long lasting containers and the greatest variety of plants to choose from, look to perennial plants. Once you are finished with your container, you can plant the perennials out in your garden for years of enjoyment.
Select plants that like the same light - so all full sun plants, or all full shade plants.
Select plants that generally need the same amounts of water. If you are new to the plants - use the tag as a guide. Select all plants that need moist to wet soils or dry to average, for instance.
Try to mix leaf shapes and textures. You may also want to follow the thriller, filler and spiller formula which is essentially a tall upright plant, a lower height fuller plant and a plant that will grow over the edge of your container.

Containers for Sun

hanging cone shaped basket filled with summer plants

Heucherella, Heuchera, Coreopsis and Wild Strawberry

This combination will work in a large pot, a window box or a hanging basket. These heucherella and heuchera are both cultivars created for full sun conditions. This particular huecherella, a cross between foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and heuchera, has lived in the hanging basket for several years and this spring, to fill out the container, I added a heuchera cultivar to fill in the space, coreopsis for flowers and a plug of wild strawberry as a spiller.

Heuchera have been cultivated to create a myriad of different colors. Check the tag to get one that best matches your light conditions. There are cultivars for full shade and full sun and every condition in between.

Coreopsis is available in straight species with yellow flowers and numerous cultivars with red, deep maroon, cream, pink and a variety of yellow flowers as well. You may have to cut back the coreopsis a time or two during the growing season to ensure it stays on the shorter side and doesn't flop.

I selected wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) as the "spiller" though you can't see it in this basket as of yet. Wild strawberry is typically sold as a ground cover for full sun conditions. This is my first time growing it in a container. My idea is it will grow out and over the edge of the container rather than in the container. Time will tell! That's one of the perks of containers - you can try things and if they don't work out, use the plant in a different location.

Wild Quinine

grey and white container with plant that is blooming with white flowers

Wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) is a sun loving, drought tolerant perennial flower. Often, when I see it in nurseries, it has a few leaves and one or two flopping flower stalks. Planted in full sun though, a year later, a meager plant in a quart sized pot is a robust 3 foot high and wide perennial with upright flower stems. This has been blooming since early May. It is perfect for this grey and white container.

Containers for Shade

round container filled with purple plant and green grass

Northern Sea Oats and Heuchera 'Frosted Violet'

Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is one of the few native grasses to grow in shade. Placed in moist shade, northern sea oats can grow quite agressively. To prevent spreading of any kind, plant it in a container. The seed heads are very architectural and add movement, grace and texture to your garden, containers or flower arrangements. I had always wanted to grow northern sea oats but was somewhat concerned about it spreading. So last fall, I planted northern sea oats in a container to try it out and it has grown robustly.

lightblue container with bronzy purple plant — Heuchera 'Frosted Violet'

Heuchera 'Frosted Violet'

If your container will be in a shady spot there is nothing easier and simply stunning than selecting the heuchera of your choice for shade. In colors ranging from the minty green of the straight species, American alumroot, to reds, lime greens, bronze and purple, there are an endless array of options available. Here a cultivar called "Frosted Violet' looks good whether in bloom or not.

pale green leaves with light white mottling — American Alumroot

If ecological gardening is your goal, go with the very beautiful American alumroot (Heuchera americana). This plant needs a good dose of shade. Part sun is ok but more shade is best. The subtle mottling on the leaves make this such an interesting plant.

When gardening in a summer container with native plants, you get to create the conditions - soil, light and water. It essentially means your every whim is a distinct possibility!

Happy Gardening.