Home + Garden Garden Featured Gardens Container Gardens with Pizzazz By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 24, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Bob Stefko Horticulturist Gail Estka considers containers an art form in her Illinois yard. See how she creates drama with tropical plants and trees as well as texture, foliage and color schemes. 01 of 14 Welcoming Entrance Bob Stefko A welcoming committee of colorful blossoms and foliage flanks a side door. Pots brim with spineless yucca, croton, ageratum, marigolds and coleus; a hanging basket spills over with verbena 'Bright Eyes' and Wave petunias. Container Gardens Just Right for the Midwest 02 of 14 Air Time Bob Stefko Metal orbs give air plants (bromeliads) an unexpected lift. 03 of 14 Tropical Movement Bob Stefko Containers make ideal hosts for specimens that you normally wouldn't plant in a Midwest garden, such as this tropical blood banana paired with trailing geraniums and scaevola. Turn Your Midwest Backyard Into a Tropical Oasis 04 of 14 Hang Ups Bob Stefko Contain aggressive spreaders like creeping Jenny in pots and hanging baskets where the foliage adds lushness but is kept in bounds. 05 of 14 Mass Appeal Bob Stefko Grouped containers create a privacy screen for al fresco dining. Ideas to Dress Up Your Deck 06 of 14 Triple Play Bob Stefko Follow this three-part plan for lush containers. Begin with a "thriller," an upright star player such as this calla lily. Next, add in one or two complementary "fillers," which can include foliage or flowering plants like lantana and geraniums. Finish with a "spiller"—in this case livingstone daisy 'Mezoo Trailing Red'-that cascades over the edge. 07 of 14 Upward Bound Bob Stefko Trees add vertical interest to container gardens; here evergreen podocarpus teams with vinca and petunias. You can over-winter some trees, but often it's cheaper to pot a tree—even if it survives only one season—than to fill a container with annuals. 08 of 14 Shear Style Bob Stefko Moss rose and corkscrew grass make for a whimsical updo. Creative Ideas for Container Gardens 09 of 14 Cascading Color Bob Stefko Green, yellow and blue create a soothing color scheme in this garden urn. Calla lily, coleus and duranta offer vertical interest; ageratum, lobelia and lantana fill the middle ground; and trailing creeping Jenny drapes down like Rapunzel's locks to steal the show. 10 of 14 Think Big Bob Stefko Bamboo palm underplanted with calibrochoa helps create upward movement and visual interest. 11 of 14 Clever and Carefree Bob Stefko Tuck a mix of succulents and moss into a trug on the patio table and water once a week. Easy Succulent Container Gardens 12 of 14 Tap into Texture Bob Stefko The fleshy blue-green trailing stems of burro's tail provide enough visual interest to stand alone in a small- or medium-size container. This succulent perennial offers pink to red flowers in summer. 13 of 14 Bright Spot Bob Stefko Versatile containers can easily be worked into a larger landscape to create a focal point or fill in a blank spot. Here, a glazed blue urn filled with petunias, coleus and lantana brightens up a corner of the garden. Easy Annual Flowers That Deliver Color All Summer Long 14 of 14 Solo Appearance Bob Stefko Using just one plant in a container creates an uncluttered look that lets that specimen shine. The densely mounded form of this 'Dragon Wing' begonia easily fills a 10-inch hanging basket and blooms continuously from May until frost. This shade-lover tolerates heat, especially if given sufficient water. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit