Patio Planters Archives - The Salty Knitter

Purple and Lime Planter

Purple Prince Alternanthera calls for full sun but happily, it seems to be taking to it’s shady home just fine. While Alternanthera is perfectly suited to landscape plantings, I chose to use it in a planter as the thriller.

A) Purple Prince Alternanthera

Recommended for full sun to light shade, I have it in a densely shaded place and it’s doing fine. It’s also suggested as a spiller in planters, I’ve chosen to use it as a thriller in this planter.

B) Escargot Rex Begonia

Silver and green leaves with a snail-like pattern have a purplish underside. It’s coloring worked well in this combination.

C) Burgundy Wedding Train Coleus

One of the few coleus with a true trailing habit which makes it highly desirable for container plantings. It’s limey colored edges make a nice contrast to the darker colored foliage.

D) Lobelia

I added three purple Lobelia a couple of weeks after the rest of the plants when I decided something was missing. At the time the planter was already so crammed with plants, I ended up ripping half the roots off so I could stuff them in. They didn’t seem to mind.

E) Setcreasea

There are three setcreasea stems in this planter. My mother keeps a few slips at the end of each season to have for the next one. Something to consider for easily rooted plants, it helps to keep costs down. Many of the spillers commonly used in planters do well as houseplants over the winter.

This planter is very full, but the bottom half of the planter is all virgin soil waiting for new roots, so it will hold moisture just fine. In front of the planter is one of my houseplants. A limey-gold pothos, it has exploded in the couple of weeks it has been outdoors. I’m convinced it has already doubled in size.

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Soothing Silver Green Planter

I broke every rule when I planted this soothing silver and green planter so I’m hoping it doesn’t wind up teaching me a lesson. The first broken rule is of course – I’ve mixed full sun plants in with shade plants. What really worries me though is that I completely forgot to think about the water needs of each plant.

Silver Green Planter – The Inspiration

It all started with a gorgeous white and green snake plant I spotted at one of my local garden centers. I absolutely had to have it. I knew snake plants do well in low light, but I didn’t realize at the time how susceptible they are to over watering.

Then I added an Artemisia Silver Brocade, a full-sun perennial with pretty silver green, almost white foliage.

And just because I’ve never had one and I feel it is a sorely underappreciated plant, I threw in a PW Flambé chrysocephalum, an annual calling for…? You guessed it – full-sun. It’s also susceptible to crown & stem rot when grown in cool, damp conditions, say like a jam-packed planter? But it does have that silver green foliage along with the unusual bright yellow flowers.

I added a silver and green variegated pothos slip to the mix and then threw it all into this square pot. Aside from the woeful lack of research I put into my plant choices, something else was missing. So I headed off to a local greenhouse that grows and sells tropical plants, and promptly purchased a bunch of 4″ plants I didn’t need, along with the ones I used to finish this planter.

Silver Green Planter – The Plants:

A & B are both snake plants. The taller, vertically striped white and green one that started it all, and a second shorter one (to the right in the top photo above with silver and green horizontal variegation. If I manage to not drown the poor things over the summer, both will do well over-wintering indoors.

C is a Dracaena. Another tropical/houseplant that does well in my house. Shown to the left in the top photo above. It’s basically just a fancier relative of the spike that appears in just about every geranium planter ever seen.

D is the Artemisia Silver Brocade, a full-sun perennial, and E is the Flambé, a full-sun annual.

F & G are both varieties of pothos. F is a white (not cream or yellow) variety called Glacier while G is a silver and green variety sometimes called Satin Pothos.

Silver Green Planter – The Planting Diagram

At the moment it’s a pretty planter, but it will be interesting to see how it does over the summer and what is still alive in the fall. I think the biggest concern will be making sure I don’t over-water this planter.

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Plant Your Own Dramatic Patio Planter!

It’s time to raise your trowel and solemnly pledge that you will plant at least one exciting or dramatic patio planter this year. Petunias are pretty, Geraniums are showy, but aren’t you just a teensy bit tired of having the same old same old in your outdoor living space?

I know I am! I’m especially tired of those spikes that are in every damn thing, so this is what I planted in the four 20″ planters on my deck instead.

Plant Your Own Dramatic Patio Planter!

The Plants:

A) Kimberley Queen or Australian Sword Fern

I purchased one large Kimberley Queen fern and divided it into four plants, one for each planter, for some green. Ferns do well in shady spots outdoors, like the shade of the large maple tree that keeps my deck comfortable for the summer.

Or you could use a Peace Lily

Or an Anthurium

B) Rubber Tree or Rubber Fig

Another Tropical house plant, I love the way the dark shiny leaves look in my planters. My only concern is it may grow too slowly to keep up with the rest of the plants over the summer, but let’s face it nothing grows very fast in the shade.

Or you could use one of these black and silver elephant ears

C) Silver Spike Helychrysum

Sold as an annual for full sun, this is another gamble, at best my deck could be a part-sun area. Since it’s grown for foliage instead of flowers, I’m hoping it will prove me right this summer and behave itself. Or I could end up with a leggy mess.

You could also use Artemesia Silver Mound or a Calocephalus Silver Bush. These are still all full-sun plants, but I’m already stretching planter boundaries anyway. Live dangerously!

My inspiration for this planter actually came from a landscape planting I saw of Calocephalus Silver Tumbleweed paired with a black Ajuga. It was striking but Ajuga in the landscape is living too dangerously for me.

D) Non Stop Mocca White Begonia

Hang around for a bit and you’ll find out Non Stop Begonias are one of my favorite plants and that I usually avoid white flowers. The brown marks on spent flowers are so much more visible on white. But – I received 3 of these as samples so free plants – obviously.

Or you could use any dark-leaved begonia in a color of your choice. A begonia matched with an Anthurium of the same color would look sweet!

E) Polka Dot Plant

I wish I could use almost any other plant than polka dot plant here, but I haven’t found anything else with that much clear white in the foliage. If you’ve got a suggestion for an alternate plant be a pal and share in the comments.

F) Tradescantia (Wandering Jew)

Another tropical house plant, tradescantia makes a really nice spiller in planters. I especially like this silver and green variety. You can bet I’ll over-winter some cuttings from these so they’re handy for next year.

The Planting Diagram:

Looking for more planter ideas? Check out the links below:

Happy Gardening!

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