Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Outdoor Potted Plants...


Motivated by the high school graduation party I am planning for my son, we have been working hard, sprucing up our backyard!

One of the quickest ways to add some color and style is to freshen up all of your outdoor pots. You know, the ones that had all of last years beautiful flowers and plants that did not quite make it through the winter months.

Outdoor plants

I have several large pots placed around our backyard in various spots. I like to use them for annual color and to add interest with different types of plants…varying the color, height, and texture.

Here are some excellent examples of how to layer plants and flowers to create a beautiful outdoor pot…




Inspired by a recent post from Kate of Centsational Girl seen here, I went shopping for some new plants and flowers for a couple of my outdoor pots. After reading Kate’s post, I had three words stuck in my head…thriller, filler, and spiller!



This technique basically means using 3 different types of foliage to fill your pots for maximum style and impact. The “thriller” is the center showpiece of your pot…preferably one that grows taller than the others. The “filler” is the flowers or blooms tucked in to provide fullness and color. Lastly, the “spiller” is just that…the one that spills out over the edge of your pot, to give that lush full look.

As I wandered around the Home Depot garden department…I kept repeating those three words in my head…thriller, filler, spiller…thriller, filler, spiller.  I think I even said it out loud a couple of times, which explains the odd looks from the other shoppers nearby!

After filling my cart, and then the back of my car, with a selection of flowers, plants, potting soil and more, I have my work cut out for me today…

image

It can be a lot of work, but I love that afterwards you have something beautiful to show for all of your effort.

How do you like to freshen up your outdoor pots for summer? Do you like working in the yard…getting potting soil under your fingernails?




3 comments:

  1. Okay girlfriend...we are sooo on the same page! We are about to embark on sprucing up our backyard as well in preparation for Kate's grad party in June. However, ours will also entail my brother (who is a landscaper) installing new sod! I am hoping we will get to ours next week. This weekend we will watch her coach her young volleyball team in their final tourney of the season. Bittersweet. I love digging in the dirt, especially my herb garden!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. In the dirt over here too, last week and yesterday. Have fun with your new flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the awesome share!....
    plastic planters

    ReplyDelete